How COVID has changed our lives

Covid-19: Nandri helping our families  Navigate Through Tough Times

The pandemic has significantly impacted our entire food system, revealing its vulnerabilities. With border closures, trade restrictions, and confinement measures, farmers have faced challenges accessing markets for essential inputs and selling their produce. These disruptions have affected both domestic and international food supply chains, leading to a reduction in the availability of healthy, diverse diets. The pandemic’s economic toll has been severe, with job losses and threats to millions of livelihoods.

Families have been particularly hit hard, with breadwinners losing jobs or falling ill. This has put the food security and nutrition of countless individuals at risk, especially those in low-income and marginalized groups.

Empowering Nandri Mothers During the Pandemic:

In these challenging times, the Nandri community has stood out as a beacon of support and resilience. Our Income Generation Program has been a lifeline for nearly 400 mothers this year. By enabling them to start small businesses such as dairy farming, tea shops, snack outlets, and tailoring services, we’ve helped these women sustain their families and even thrive in adversity. These ventures have not only provided a stable income but also a sense of pride and independence, proving that even in the face of a global crisis, a community’s spirit can triumph.

Supporting Families in Times of Loss:

Tragically, we’ve also witnessed the loss of 49 beloved Nandri mothers this year due to health complications. This has been a heart-wrenching time for their families, who have struggled to come to terms with their loss. In these moments of grief, Nandri has been there to offer comfort and support. We’ve provided each bereaved family with financial assistance for funeral services, standing with them in solidarity and mourning.

Educational loans changing the lives of our students

Last month 12 students from impoverished families benefited from educational loans that would enable them to remain in education and escape from generations of poverty. They will achieve their dreams of completing college degrees and having a secure future with a well paying career.

Here are some wonderful success stories of what our students are achieving with the support of an educational loan from Nandri.

• Educational Support to Janani: Janani sought financial support from Nandri to pursue her nursing career. With our assistance, she is now in her 1st year of B Sc Nursing at TCR Medical College in Kirushnagiri.

• Educational Support to Punitha: Punitha faced financial problems despite her mother’s support and determination to educate her daughters. Without Nandri’s financial help Punitha’s could not have continued to higher education. She is now pursuing her 1st year of Diploma in Pharmacy at Arunai College in Thiruvannamalai.

• Educational Support to Rabunisha: Rabunisha had a father who supported her ambitions by encouraging her to continue her studies. Nandri helped her financially and she is currently pursuing her B Sc Nursing at Hosmat Hospital in Bangalore.

• Educational Support to Darwin: Darwin was determined to achieve his goals despite having to help support his family financially. He turned to Nandri,who gave him an educational loan and today, he is pursuing his education at Sandhiya Hospital in Vellore.

Income generating support for our mothers

The ‘Income Generating Support at Nandri Office’ program aims to increase the income of our mothers livelihood projects through income-generating ideas, skill development, and financial support. This uplifts our mothers and fathers and helps them escape from poverty. In the current month, we provided financial assistance to our mothers on August 17th at the Nandri Office. This support included group loans for four groups, income generation support for 20 mothers, educational support for 12 mothers, emergency support for 5 mothers, and staff support for 2 mothers.

Nandri fostering responsible fatherhood

“Nandri has played a vital role in supporting and encouraging women who aspire to become self-reliant entrepreneurs. Beyond empowering women, Nandri extends its support to men by introducing beneficial schemes and providing financial assistance. In the last number of years, Nandri initiated fathers’ groups with the aim of fostering responsible fatherhood.

In many villages, a significant portion of the men struggle with alcoholism, leaving their families unsupported. Nandri’s intervention seeks to help these fathers lead dignified lives. Currently, we have established 10 such groups in seven villages, with 175 fathers actively participating in the Nandri Father’s Livelihood Movement.

Under the ‘Training Fathers on Nandri Spirit’ initiative, these groups meet to discuss and find solutions to members’ challenges. When individuals face difficulties, the collective strength of the group helps them overcome obstacles. Each month, they gather as a united family, embracing Nandri’s vision and mission while learning how to maintain account notebooks effectively to manage their families finances.

A cow bring happiness to Isabella!

Isabella, a widow from a local village, has been struggling to make ends meet while taking care of her three children. After her husband died, there was very little money to feed or educate her children and she feared she would have to take them out of school. Through Nandri’s support with a micro finance loan, she purchased a cow and by selling the milk she was able to supplement her daily earnings with an additional income. Thanks to Nandri, She has been able to feed and support her children, keep them in education so they have a promising future and with Nandri’s continued support, her family’s future is secure.

Recent events for Nandri mothers

Nandri offers continuous support for our mothers through educational workshops, leadership seminars, organic farming skills programmes and many more initiatives. here are some examples of our recent meetings:

Our workshop for mothers and farmers took place at the Nandri Centre. A fruitful dialogue between farmers and bank officials was organised by our Nandri Director, shedding light on various schemes available for farmers and rural development. Approximately 70 mothers and 50 farmers gained valuable insights from this event.

The Nandri Office distributed financial aid to deserving beneficiaries. The Nandri Director handed over livelihood support to 57 Nandri Mothers. To foster motivation and solidarity, group loans were given to 15 groups, income generation support to 34 mothers, emergency aid to 5 mothers, and educational aid to 3 mothers. We consistently support these mothers through Income Generating Projects (IGP) to enhance their lives.

Some of the highlights of recent events were:

1. Skills development workshops for mothers and farmers

2. Income generation initiatives at our Nandri Office

3. Updates on the Mothers Groups’ status

4. Allocation of financial aid

5. Sharing of personal stories

6. Lending a helping hand to families mourning the loss of loved ones

Through these workshops, we continue to educate, empower and support our mothers. We encourage and financially help their children to remain in education - especially the girls, who frequently due to lack of money, are taken out of school to work menial jobs to help support their families.

These workshops and meetings also bring the mothers together as one big Nandri family, to discuss problems and hardships in their lives and as a supportive group under the guidance of Nandri, the mothers help each other through difficult times in their lives.

Life changing loan for Irudhaya

Through Micro loans, Nandri gives hope and support and the promise of a future to our mothers. Life has been a constant struggle for Irudhaya, a mother of three daughters from a local village. Her husband Francis went overseas seeking work and unfortunately never returned. To help her overcome the immense financial difficulties she was facing, Nandri stepped in and assisted her in purchasing a cow, a substantial asset for a farmer like her. This intervention not only provides her with a steady source of income but also contributes significantly to the improvement of her family’s living conditions. Nandri will also help to keep her children in education and will offer the family ongoing support.

Nandri - empowering women

In India, traditionally a country where women’s rights are curtailed, Nandri has served as a catalyst for change, promoting the empowerment of our mothers. Through education, micro finance loans and helping them to create small businesses, we have empowered women to be aware of their rights and carve out their own space in society, independent of any male influence. We are committed to the idea that success should not hinge on one’s gender.

Although Nandri has come a long way in our mission to empower our mothers, we are mindful that the journey towards gender equality is not complete. By supporting and encouraging women, Nandri continues to bring about positive changes in their lives and the lives of their families.

Covid- Continued support for our Nandri families.

Covid has not totally disappeared from our community and Nandri and the The Tamil Nadu government continue to work  tirelessly to ensure the safety of our families.  Nandri over the last three years took significant steps and implemented various protocols to protect our people.

Efforts by Nandri to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Amongst Mothers and their families:

❖ Nandri distributed 5,000 masks for people to wear in public, particularly indoors or when maintaining physical distance was not possible.

❖ Nandri organized 100 vaccination camps in Kolappalur village to ensure everyone was vaccinated and able to lead a safe life.

❖ Nandri also conducted COVID-19 awareness rallies in nearby villages every six months.

❖ We educated our families on the importance of getting vaccinated when it's your turn and to follow local guidance regarding vaccinations.

❖ Remember to cover your nose and mouth with your elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

❖ Stay home if you feel unwell.

❖ Frequently clean your hands, using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Livelihood Support for Nandri Mothers:

Every month, Nandri selects five mothers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They provide financial support through an Income Generation Program, encouraging these mothers to lead successful and happy lives. Unfortunately, there is concern that a fourth wave of the virus is spreading rapidly in large cities like Chennai and Bangalore.

Tragically, 30 members of the Nandri self-help groups have succumbed to the virus. Nandri offers comfort to the bereaved families and provides financial help with funerals, money for food and necessities at this very difficult time in their lives.

We at Nandri would like to thank you for your financial support, which helps us to continue this vital work for our Nandri families.

Water water everywhere

“Water, water everywhere, and not a SAFE drop to drink” – Many of our villagers on a daily basis are faced with no option but to drink water that is not clean and very dangerous to their health. This is due to basic lack of sanitation and hygiene.

Clean water and sanitation are vital to our health. Nandri prioritizes providing clean water for our Dalit families through development projects.   One of our projects is in a village called Avoor  near Thiruvannamalai. There Nandri built a mini water tanks for for the villagers.

Our Nandri Foundation started Eco-Protection Force and it has been successfully running for the past two years.  Every month Nandri keeps providing tree saplings to Nandri mothers and school children. And lately Nandri planted 2 thousand palm seeds at the bank of the lakes nearby villages.  Nandri is a great guide and inspiration for our children, showing them how to keep our world green and clean.

 So far Nandri has supported 60 Dalit families in different villages. Recently Nandri supported this mother to build a toilet in her house.  Frequently even though new toilets and washing facilities have been built by Nandri,  proper usage remains low.  In order to educate the families, Nandri works to bring awareness amongst our mothers and trains them in proper hygiene practices, both at home and in the community.

We thank you on behalf of our Nandri families for you support of this very important project.  With your financial help we have been able to make the lives of many of our families more happy, healthy and sanitary.

A second cow for Lily!

Lilly is from Gudalore village. Sadly her husband passed away some years ago due to kidney failure. She has two daughters still in school and on her low income she was struggling to keep them in education. Nandri gave her a loan to purchase a second cow, so she could increase the family income, and continue to support her daughter's education. Thanks to Nandri’s help, her girls will have the opportunity to continue to third level college. 

More success stories of Micro Business Loans for our mothers

Mrs K was an agricultural worker, earning very little money. She has three daughters and was struggling to keep them in education. In India, girls are sometimes considered a financial burden for poor families. Mrs K received a loan from Nandri and bought a cow to enable her to start her own micro business, selling the cows milk. This has changed the lives of her family providing income for the girls to continue in education. If her daughters choose to continue to college, Nandri will offer Mrs K a loan to enable her girls to fulfill their career goals.

Mrs P and her husband are working as poorly paid coolies. They have two children and on their meager incomes, they were struggling to feed and educate their children. With Nandri’s support Mrs P bought a cow. With this extra family income, the parents are now able to give their children better nutrition an education and a much brighter future. F

Sindhu’s story of adoption and hope

Tragically both of Sindhu’s parents died. One of our kind Nandri mothers, Banu, who already had four children, adopted Sindhu, giving her love and the chance of a family life.

Sindhu is an ambitious student and started a degree course in college. Unfortunately her family could no longer pay her fees and Sindhu sadly was going to have to leave college. Her family approached Nandri for aid and with the help of a loan from Nandri’s Higher Education programme, she is now able to complete her degree. Nandri has helped secure her future and she can look forward to a successful well paid career.

Nandri’s Micro Schemes bring income and hope to our families

Nandri’s mission is to enable and empower our mothers. In order to aid them to earn more money for their families, we provide our mothers with micro loans to help them set up their own small businesses. Many of our mothers choose to buy a cow with the loan. This provides them with milk to help feed their families and also an income from the milk they sell.

Mrs R was one such mother who availed of our micro loan scheme. She comes from a very poor family and had no support. With very little income she was finding it very hard to feed her family and could not afford to keep her children in education. This would mean that the next generation would have no hope of having a good career and as a result her family would be stuck in a perpetual poverty trap.

Mrs R joined one of the mothers self help groups and gained confidence and learned skills to start her own micro business. She applied for a income generating loan to buy a cow. Her life has been changed with the extra income. She has more money to feed her children and as part of the loan agreement, she will keep her children in education, giving them the chance of a bright future.

A Nursing Career for Kavitha

Kavitha is presently in her 2nd year of B sc Nursing in Dr Vimal College of Nursing in Vellore. It was always her dream to become a nurse and she was doing very well with her studies. Last year Kavitha’s family could no longer afford the college fees and she was devastated when she had to quit her degree course. She approached Nandri for help and was provided with a loan to pay her fees. Kavitha is so relieved to be back in college and extremely grateful for the opportunity that Nandri has given her to complete her studies and fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse.

Training Schemes for Nandri Mothers

Nandri staff held training camps for the leaders of our mothers groups in their villages. The purpose of the camps was to offer the mothers guidance and leadership skills to enable them to become more effective heads of their groups. Some of the topics we discussed were:

Each group should meet regularly every month - if they meet regularly they come to understand each other’s difficulties better. Meeting attendance of all is encouraged - full attendance in all the group meetings will make it easy for the mothers to work together and for everyone to have a voice. A focus on maintaining the account notebooks - all the formats applying for various financial assistance were clearly explained to them. Every mother is expected to wear the Nandri uniform sarees for the monthly meeting to show unity as one big Nandri family.

The training camps were a great success and each group leader gained confidence in their abilities and learned new skills that they can use in their future meetings.

Sponsor a Child Programme

We recently relaunched our sponsor a child programme. Education is the key to escaping the poverty trap and we see this as a vital investment in these children's future. The Nandri Sponsor a Child programme enables disadvantaged families to provide education for their children and it focuses on three key areas:

To sponsor and encourage more girls into education, emergency grants to keep children in education in emergency situations and educational grants that help the most disadvantaged children in villages across Tamil Nadu.

The proof of the success of our Sponsor a Child Programme is the 100s of students we have helped, who have gone on to 3rd Level education and qualified as doctors, nurses, engineers, accountants etc. These young people with successful careers and well paid jobs continue to support their own families financially and help younger siblings to continue in education. The Sponsor a Child Programme breaks the cycle of poverty for our children and their families and opens up endless opportunities to fulfill their dreams. With your help and sponsorship, Nandri can totally change a child’s future.

Training our school students in Organic Farming skills

Nurture to Nourish is the new initiative taken by Nandri to promote organic farming and domestic gardening to meet the vegetable needs of the families in the villages as well as in the cities.

Organic farming helps soil fertility and generates better crops for our villages. We teach the children the importance of this initiative for the environment. We have 30 children attending classes with us once a week and we use this opportunity to teach them many organic farming skills. The children, much to the delight of their parents, have also started their own vegetable gardens in their respective homes.

4E Programme Empowers our Mothers

Nandri has developed our 4E empowerment programme for our mothers. The four areas of personal development initiatives we are focusing on are: Economical Empowerment, Educational Empowerment, Ecological Empowerment and Emotional Empowerment. Women's empowerment is a particular focus for Nandri and runs through each of these 4E programmes.

Economic Empowerment allows women to control and benefit from resources, assets and income. It also aids the ability to manage risk and improve women's well-being. Empowerment of women enhances the quality and the quantity of human resources and benefits not only the mothers but also their families. Nandri works tirelessly to empower mothers and support them in all aspects of their lives.

Training our young people in the skills to become self employed

In April, we held a training workshop for our young people to teach them skills to enable them to start their own income generating projects and businesses and become self employed.

Sixty young people aged between 18 - 35 from families below the poverty line took part in various training programmes in agriculture and also learning technical skills in various industries and businesses. The aim of the project is to educate our young rural men and women in the skills needed to persue a self employed career in many areas of agriculture and also various self employed business schemes.

An important part of the training scheme is motivating these young people and encouraging them to believe in their own talents and abilities. We show them that with Nandri’s support and their own enthusiasm and skills that they can become self employed and earn a living to support themselves and help support their families. Knowing that Nandri will provide financial support loans and also the necessary education, these young people left with newly acquired skills and filled with enthusiasm to start their own small businesses.