Project Title: Mohammed Bazar Backward Classes Development Society (MBBCDS)in partnership with Association for India’s Development (AID).

Location: India

Additional Information

AID – MBBCDS 2010 Program Proposal Expenses

Grant Amount: $21,652

Grantee Website: www.aidindia.org/main/

Areas of Impact: Economic Sustainability, Education & Literacy, Health

Mission of AID-MBBCDS
To promote sustainable, equitable and just development by supporting grassroots organizations and initiating efforts in various interconnected spheres such as agriculture, energy, education, health, livelihoods, natural resources, women's empowerment and social justice.

Summary
Dining for Women’s gift will help support AID’s "Holistic Empowerment of Tribal Women through Group Development Initiatives" project. The project empowers women who live in Mohammed Bazar block’s impoverished villages, through AID’s West Bengal partner MBBCDS. Women will be selected for the project based on their socio-economic status and their aptitude for a particular vocation. They will be divided into 100 self-help groups (SHGs), based on geographic proximity, compatible vocational choice, similar development problems and other criteria. These groups will participate in a number of initiatives designed to alleviate the disadvantages that tribal women in India encounter daily.

Why We Love This
With “Holistic Empowerment of Tribal Women through Group Development Initiatives,” AID can expand the impact of MBBCDS to socio-economic, health and hygiene related issues that affect tribal women in the area. In West Bengal, the socio-economic status of tribal women is dismally low, and gender inequality is rampant in Mohammad Bazar block. Girls born in these tribes must overcome a world of low literacy rates, few job opportunities for women, little knowledge about reproductive health and feminine hygiene, and prevalent malnutrition, mental problems and domestic and social violence. DFW’s funding will give MBBCDS the resources needed to begin training more women with several vocational skills, teaching business training in order to aid them in income generation, and installing other projects that support and guide women in the program.