Projects - Fida International

Jaigaon and Bhutan Community Development Project

The Community Development Project in Jaigaon (also spelt Jaygaon), a small town in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal near the Bhutan border, was established in 2004 in collaboration with the Love and Hope Ministry. Jalpaiguri is the largest district in West Bengal and one of the most backward districts of the country. The project also works with people across the border in Pasakha area of Bhutan although most of the activities are conducted with Jaigaon as the base. Jaigaon is susceptible to heavy monsoonal rains and cold, foggy winters. While the land is fertile with rich alluvial soil, the severe monsoons bring other problems in their wake. Uncontainable monsoon floods often damage crops and human settlements, causing large-scale losses. The village roads are rough and stony and development is scarce in these parts. People often walk miles on these roads to reach the nearest school or hospital. Located at the gateway to Bhutan, Jaigaon is a thriving center for trade but also a hotbed of political instability and murky activities like smuggling. People can travel relatively freely between the two countries and Assam and Bodo liberation activists, who have training camps in Bhutan, use Jaigaon as a free passageway to and from India. Some settlements also face dacoit attacks. The region has its share of developmental woes as well. Seventy percent of the people in this quiet little town are unemployed; another seventy percent face political, social or financial insecurity. Illiteracy, inadequate health and sanitation, and AIDS are other problems that need to be addressed. Things get worse closer to the border. Literally trapped in no man’s land, the communities here do not have access to basic health and sanitation. There are no proper roads and frequent landslides worsen matters. There is the structure of a half-finished school, a project that was abandoned midway by the government, but no school. The forces of nature have wreaked havoc on the land and crops don’t grow well; nor are their alternative means of livelihood easily available. The corrupt Village Panchayat consumes Government funds for its own uses and does nothing to develop the area. Because they are so far inside, inspection officials often forget to visit them or are easily bribed away. In many ways, these are a forgotten people. The project works with about nine communities and 150 Self Help Groups across Jaigaon and Pasakha area in Bhutan to create awareness about health, education, income generation and community development. In 2008, we plan to work with three more communities in Hatkhola and Deorali. Building a ‘Model Village’ The project started working with a community in the Hatkhola settlement in 2004. Besides starting a school, it also helped the people form a village committee to address their problems. People were organized into Self Help Groups as well as clubs. The first lesson we taught them was self-reliance. In keeping with our larger belief that communities must develop themselves, we motivated them to stop depending on others to solve their problems and to look inwards and within the community for solutions. The project has changed the way people respond to their own needs for basic health and sanitation. People are now using health cards to record common diseases like malaria, typhoid, jaundice and diarrhea. They are constructing latrines and garbage pits, using boiled or purified water, and keeping their surroundings cleaner. They are also more aware of preventive healthcare measures and common diseases have been reduced. The community has also achieved progress in other ways. The people have started adopting alternative income generation ideas. More children in the community are going to school regularly. People have worked together to construct better inland roads and drainage systems with the help of a meager government fund. Slowly, this community is becoming a ‘model village’, an example for other communities in the neighborhood.