Guwahati: SOS Children’s Village Guwahati has been conducting capacity-building activities for the local communities under its Family Strengthening Programme, which aims at working with families and communities to help them build sustainable livelihood options, ensuring the prevention of child abandonment and securing wholesome development of their children. Around 531 families in the region were educated about various livelihood activities and skills like candle making, weaving, cow and goat rearing, book-keeping and management, financial literacy, and parenting skills, to name a few.
Thirty-six Self Help Groups (SHGs) are being equipped with capacity building. The SHGs act as the main source of cohesiveness within the community with whom individuals and families share their issues and problems. The groups work towards assisting the concerned members of the community with support and solutions, while also helping them with knowledge and skills about various livelihood means, which allows them to enhance financial stability.
Sumanta Kar, Secretary General, SOS Children’s Villages of India said, “The Capacity Building programme has created a positive impact motivating the community members under the Family Strengthening Programme to adopt new ideas and models of generating a sustainable income and grow their existing business ventures. Families get an idea of various means of livelihood available to ensure financial stability and the wholesome development of their children with the optimum use of local resources. Apart from that, we also help these families with financial literacy and parenting skills. At SOS Children’s Villages India, we aim at supporting and strengthening families belonging to vulnerable communities to avoid child abandonment while making sure they receive holistic child development.”
SOS Children’s Village Guwahati along with the Self Help Groups organises learning activities and workshops, especially for women, on financial literacy, weaving and fashion exposure, integrated farming, livestock and technology.