SCAD have been working with Women Self Help Groups for over 25 years; they are the backbone of our organisation. Initially the men in the villages were against their wives leaving the house for training and used to argue with them. Now they see the benefit the groups have bought to their lives and villages and they ask their wives to get involved with the groups. Women Self Help Groups are generally made up of between 10-20 women who come together to collect small savings and share their problems once a week. With the money they collect they can open a bank account collectively and also they...

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The Tirunelveli District Level Sports Day for mentally disabled children conducted by the District Sports Authority of Tirunelveli was held this year on the 19th November, 2011, at the Anna Stadium, Palayamkottai. 243 Mentally challenged children from 17 special schools in the District participated in the sports day with great enthusiasm. Five children per school were permitted to participate in the sports events and three boys and two girls representing SCAD Anbu Illam, Chereanmahadevi, were taken to the Anna Stadium, to participate in different events SCAD has encouraged and motivated the mentally...

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Trees can help people in many different ways; they help facilitate water, they provide shelter and warmth, food and nutrition and can also provide a valuable income. At SCAD we are planting trees for all of these things. SCAD help farmers with their irrigation systems, especially helping them to perform drip irrigation, which enables the trees to grow in this harsh, almost desert, climate. Good trees can also provide an income for their timber as long as there is a way of making sure that they can be re planted. The people of Tamil Nadu have been experiencing the effects of climate change for many...

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Tuticorin, the region in which SCAD works, receives 678mm of rainfall a year, which is 29% less than the average for the district. The communities who live in Tuticorin are already feeling the effects of drought, soil erosion and water depletion. Monsoon rains matter for crop irrigation and water supply, and people and livestock suffer heavily when the monsoon fails or is delayed. For the future of our communities in India we have started to plan adaptation strategies. To this end we have been planting between 80,000 and 100,000 new indigenous saplings every year since we began working in the community...

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