My Experience During a Trip to Myrada, India

The visit to MYRADA in India was organized by Tear Fund to enhance partners’ capacities on different strategies used by communities to positively influence their economic, social and political development. MYRADA has been working through Self Help Groups (SHGs) for more than two decades.

MYRADA is a Non- Governmental Organization situated in Mysore District in the Southern Part of the Karnataka State, India. This was one of the poorest states in the past but the SHGs have revolutionized the region with the poorest people teaming up and jointly in addressing their issues in small ways, contributing to sustainable interventions and healthy communities.

I was privileged to join Tear Fund team which visited the Myrada Organization between 23^rd August to 5^th September 2016. The objective of the visit was to learn from the NGO how it has managed to mobilize the communities in the district to become self – reliant and economically stable in a State which was perceived to be poor in the past.

The concept of Self Help Groups (SHG) has been embraced in the district and communities have mobilized themselves through these groups to address their financial, social & political challenges.

The objectives of the exposure visit were:-

To understand features of SHG
To learn from communities on the impact of SHGs on the lives of SHG members and their families
To appreciate SHG as an empowering tool
To analyze key concepts of SHG
To engage promoting agencies on their role in community development
To understand the management of credit plus activities
To engage SHG federations to understand the purpose, structure and their functions
To engage leaders on community managed resource centers
To appreciate the role of SHGs in networking and collaboration in empowerment and poverty reduction

Learning sessions were facilitated in the morning while afternoons were set aside for field visits. Following is a summary of the filed visits during the period

Date	Name of town/Village	Purpose of the visit		Remarks
25.08.2016	Sanguru		To understand the features of SHGs	There are 75 groups in this village. They are linked with banks
26.08.2016	Nanjanayakanahally		To analyze improvement in economic conditions of the members	Initially this was a very poor village but a lot of milestones have been achieved. MYRADA works here with in promoting Children rights. Groups in the village have contributed to improvement of this village
27.08.2016	H. Matakere		To understand how SHGs manage leadership and financial systems	Clear understanding of roles and responsibilities quite evident amongst the members
28.08.2016	Bullurhundi		To analyze programs mobilized by the community and individuals along with SHGs	SHGs have mobilized the community to improve their village. The programmses in the village have been identified by the government as possible areas to replicate in other villages.
29.08.2016	Hansanalu		Analysis of credit plus activities carried out by SHGs	Great initiatives in place. Village members are well informed
30.08.2016	Beechanahally		Federations, Structure, roles and responsibilities	Teams were clear on structures and linkages, and what consolidated SHGs are able to achieve
31.08.2016	Hunsur		Meeting with Board directors of Jnanachiguru Community management resource centre	The SHGs have transformed this village and different actors including the government are competing to work with them
01.09.2016	Kalanahalla		Youth Development Programme	Exposure on how sponsorship could be used to enhance SHG formation to avoid dependency in a community
Each village had very clear data of their status and documentation on achievements.

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Application of Lessons Learnt to NCCK Work

The learning exposure brought about sustainable strategies which can be employed to contribute to poverty reduction in a sustainable manner. Active participation, inclusiveness, transparency, trust, networking and ownership are areas that we may explore as we embark on Church and Community Development which is the next phase of the CCMP. NCCK will work with the current CCMP facilitators on the next steps to embrace SHG as entry community tool.

I wish to register my sincere appreciation to my organization for granting me time to join this learning exposure and to Tearfund Kenya for considering NCCK to be part of this great learning.

Grace Muthungu; Senior Programmes Officer, Capacity Building for Membership