CORD stands for Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development.
CORD is a division of Chinmaya Mission Halton Region, a successful Non-Profit Organization located in Ontario. It is affiliated with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) whereby Canadian aide is given to a rural NGO in India that has received accolades for its success in empowering the women of the region and drawing them out of the cycle of dependency.
CORD Sidhbari has been working since 1985. The project's first goal was to mobilize health care services to remote villages in the Kangra District. In 1993 CMHR implemented “Comprehensive Integrated Development in Rural India” (CIDRI) in partnership with Chinmaya Tapovan Trust in Sidbhari and CIDA. The Project aims to build organizational and operational capacity of village groups to run their own activities in an integrated, participatory and sustainable manner while augmenting their income and enabling natural resource management by the villagers.
The greatest legacy that the project has given to the simple women in the area is the unfoldment of their potential in many directions.
As of March 2007, CORD Sidbhari reported reaching out to 541 villages.
Goals of CIDRI:
Initiate the empowerment process for women through Comprehensive Development
Train women for grass-root leadership and upgrade their skills of work drawn from their group which becomes an integral part of their socio-economic, health, educational and environmental programmes
Generate participatory involvement of women in the project area-groups such as “Mahila-mandals” (women’s monthly gatherings), adolescent girls' groups, and Self-help groups. Self-help groups are identified as micro-banking groups where the groups undertake a project, get bank finance, implement the project and return the loan to the bank. The recovery of the micro-loans has been 100%.
Create micro-enterprises throughincome generation activities (dairy and poultry farming, traditional farming of vegetables and mushrooms, animal husbandry, bee-keeping are just some of the activities that have begun)
Rehabilitate women seeking social justice, environment and sanitation to become an integral part of its approach to development.
While women are the central focus of the Project, activities include people of both sexes to address gender equality, particularly for children and youth. Men are also targeted in areas such as self-governance, natural resources management and alcohol awareness and treatment, for example. The same holds for people with disabilities, where both sexes experience social and economic exclusion
It is a matter of pride that the Chinmaya Rural Health Care and Training Centre was identified in 1998 by the NABARD (a Government organization for agricultural and rural development) as a mother N.G.O. (non-government organization) for training of N.G.O.s. The centre has already trained over 62 other N.G.O.s.
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HOW LONG HAS THE PROJECT BEEN AROUND?
In the late 80’s , a great humanitarian and a monk by profession, Swami Chinmayananda felt the need to help the poor in the Kangra District. Over 2000 villages are scattered all over the valley and it was his dream to reach each one of them.
Himachal Pradesh is one of the most depressed States in India. Swami Chinmayananda began an NGO that would empower local women. Sustainable development of the region, he believed, was only possible if the women were uplifted and could contribute to the success of their family and community.
The CIDRI project is run by CORD’s National Director, Dr. Kshama Metre, who over sees the day-to-day operations of the project and approximately 175 employees associated with the CIDRI project. The CIDRI project is run from the Chinmaya Rural Primary Health Care and Training Centre (CRHCTC) in Sidhbari, Kangra District, and Himachal Pradesh.
Dr. Kshama Metre, a practicing paediatrician in New Delhi, took on the leadership of this NGO in 1985. Starting in relatively small way with a donation of a few sewing machines, Dr. Metre, single-mindedly pursued the vision of empowering the women of this dismal rural area.
Dr Metre received the Padmashree award in 2008 from the President of India for social service.
CORD empowers women by increasing the ability of women to contribute to their families’ support as well as undertaking a variety of intervention strategies to attend to the psychological and social well being of women and encourages them to take part in the political process in their villages. Hiring practices of local residents as employees makes the NGO sustainable as its resources as well as clientele are from the same region.
Though women are regarded as the primary focus, by extending their services to include the families of these women where relevant, CRTC ends up serving the entire village community. The effect of empowerment of women has created a powerful influence on the norms and values of the communities and finally managed to change the laws to favour equal access to institutions regardless of caste and gender.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT:
Not merely dreaming Vision-of-Service but courageously performing in Laboratory-of-life.
The Chinmaya Movement, established in 1951 has pledged to alleviate suffering (starting from "grass root levels")
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Chinmaya Mission Halton Chinmaya Mission Halton Region 206 Locke Street South Hamilton, ON L8P 4B4 Phone: 905 570-0440 Fax: 905 570-0545
