SCAD has been offering community-based rehabilitation to people with disabilities in ultra-poor communities of South India for thirty years. However there are still many problems that disabled people face; there is limited access to health care services, medical treatment is expensive and inaccessible, medical provision is not specialised or fit for purpose and there is a lack of knowledge about quality health care services for disabled people. Rehabilitation of different kinds under a single roof in a multidisciplinary approach is very rare. The specialists are in far off lands and patients...

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Calling all teachers in the UK and Europe, SCAD World School needs you! SCAD World School are looking for qualified teachers in all subjects from the UK and Europe to take a sabbatical year out to teach in Tamil Nadu, South India. This is a fantastic opportunity to teach in a location rich in culture and teaming with life. The children are eager to learn, motivated and enthusiastic. SCAD World School is a residential school located at Palladam, near Coimbatore, on an 120 acre eco-friendly campus. SCAD (Social Change & Development), with 29 years of service as one of the leading educational...

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This video is an interview with Cletus Babu about the work that SCAD does. This February SCAD are hosting an International conference with our partners Converge Project which is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Union with 9 partners across 5 countries, including partners from industrialised nations such as Sweden, the UK and Iceland, transition economies such as Hungary and rapidly industrialising nations such as India. Converge research is inspired by the concept of contraction and convergence (C&C); a suggested way to stabilise atmospheric concentrations...

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Rural women are usually poorer than their male counterparts, more vulnerable, own no land, are less educated and in poorer health. They struggle because of low paid work and care for the home. The women are often ignorant of their rights, liberties and privileges. Being women, they are likely to have little or no say in the financial matters within her house. A girl child is deprived of schooling or literacy for no other reason than that she is a female and it is this illiteracy that often excludes her from written knowledge and participation in decision making, affecting both the household and the community. SCAD...

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Hello SCAD Supporters. We need your help! We are looking for people, communities, organisations and corporate companies who want to sponsor a village in India with SCAD. With your help we can transform a village in Tamil Nadu, South India. SCAD are an Indian organisation and we know how to work with local people to transform their communities. Please download our leaflet here to see how it works and what you can do. If you are good at organising your community or inspiring your workmates then why not club together and raise the funds to support the development of a whole village. We will...

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Would you like to make a real difference to the lives of poor rural families in the Southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu? We would like to start working with five new villages in Tamil Nadu. At SCAD in partnership with our UK charity Salt of the Earth we run a sponsor a village scheme. This is a pioneering opportunity for communities in the UK and Europe to support community development in villages in Southern India. With your help we can change people's lives. This core funding pays for a village volunteer and part of the salary of a professional field worker. Between them they provide...

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Join Trisha Roberts for a fascinating insight into India - there is no better way to get to know a new place than to share food with local people.  During this colourful two week tour you will visit markets, shop for ingredients, learn to cook southern India food, visit villages, schools and temples and much, much more! During this tour you will gain firsthand insight into how our projects make a real difference to women like Karuppi.  Along with shopping for ingredients and learning to cook 3 or 4 dishes per day, you will also visit some of SCAD's projects including income-generating...

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Cataract is an age-related condition in which the lens of the eye becomes clouded, blurring vision. Cataracts can lead to blindness, however the process is entirely reversible. If caught early and simply operated on full sight can be recovered. Cataracts are a massive problem for people in India. It is estimated that for India alone 3.8 million people become blind from cataract each year. The sight loss of an adult can damage the household economy, whether a breadwinner becomes another mouth to feed or a grandmother is no longer able to provide primary care for the children. SCAD can perform...

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The SCAD interventions in health related activities is a direct response to the growing concern over the emerging health challenges in the villages. Camps and trainings are extremely beneficial in providing immediate and localised care to village members who otherwise might not be able to access a doctor, hospital or knowledge on how to ensure the best health for themselves and their families. It is vital that these trainings are provided in an environment and language that the local people understand and SCAD has a real advantage here being a local NGO. The SCAD staff work tirelessly to provide...

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Can you imagine how not having any electricity would damage your business, communication, relationships and even your dinner? Living without electricity is a common reality for many people living in Tamil Nadu and especially where SCAD is located on the ground. In the last six months there has been 6-10 hours of power cuts per day.  This impacts lives in a very damaging way; businesses cannot operate and loose money, children cannot study at home in the evening because there is no light, exhausted women rush through their chores at pre-dawn hours and any special occasion needs a generator to run smoothly. It...

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