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Grooming Sparks
 


Navam believes that there are many young committed and dedicated social workers and leaders in the social development sector. During our initial outreach activities we came across many such social entrepreneurs. Many of them did not have the adequate exposure nor had the access to current information. We realised the importance of improving their potentials and helping them to bring about revolution in the sector of social development.  After interacting with some of them we realised that they too were looking for opportunities of interacting with experts and were eager to share their experiences. This led to the conception of ‘Thingi’ project. These social entrepreneurs have a spark in them. They have an ability to bring about social change, therefore we refer to  them as Sparks and the project  is called “ Grooming Sparks “ or “Thingi” in Marathi. There was a lot of enthusiasm when we shared our idea of ‘Grooming Sparks’ with them and with many others engaged in this sector. Similarly we shared our views and concerns with the experts and knowledgeable people in this field. They too met with an equal enthusiasm and agreed to share their expertise during the course of this project.

Objectives:
The objectives of the project are-

  1. Enhancing the potentials of committed and enthusiastic social entrepreneurs.
  2. Providing the participants with wide exposure to the development issues.
  3. Encouraging innovations in the field of social work.

The Participants:
The social entrepreneur who wishes to be a part of this project has to be someone who is at a decision making level in the organisation. Only one person from one organisation gets selected for this project.

 

The selected person must be willing to commit for the time duration of the project (at least 3 days a month throughout the year). This is necessary for the continuation of the process. The selected person has the responsibility to share his learnings and experiences of the workshops with all the staff members from their organisation.

The ‘Grooming Spark’s participants come from different parts of rural Maharashtra. They all are decision makers or founders of that NGO, and are also engaged in interacting with the local communities. They all work in the areas of health, education, socio-economic development and income generation activities for the rural population, public advocacy initiatives, legal literacy programmes, etc. The experience of participants range from 5 to 10 years in the social sector.

 

Process:
The duration of the Grooming Sparks’ project for one batch of participants is one year. The project involves interactions of the selected participants who prefer to call themselves ‘SPARKS’ with the experts from different development sectors like law, education, agriculture, human rights, economics, politics, sociology, medicine, public advocacy, etc.  In addition to this they also get exposure by visiting different innovative experimental projects.  The participants are provided with the information relating to the government policies, development philosophies, global trends and their impact on people.

The sessions are designed in such a way that everyone benefits from this process. The participants have expressed that this exposure has broadened their vision and enriched their perspective. This process has helped Navam in building a strong network of rural NGOs.

Expected outcome:
It is expected that the participants would like to introduce innovations in their existing activities. Navam would review these projects and would support them, provided they falls within the general frame of operations of Navam

The first and second batch of Grooming Sparks had 8 participants each. Both the batches have completed their training.  Training of the third batch is in process and it has 10 participants.

 

Profile of Thingi (Grooming spark) Participants:        

No. Person Organisation District Area of work
1 Ms. Rehana Bailim Zashichi Rani Yavatmal Education, women, SHGs
2 Ms. Yogini Dolke Srujan Yavatmal Health, RCH, SHGs focus is also on action based research
3 Ms. Rajashri Pagare Samidha Nashik SHGs. Education, Anti liquor movement
4 Ms.Manisha Pote Yuva Mitra Sinnar SHGs. Education, Anti liquor movement
5 Mr. Sarang Pande Lok panchayat, Sangamner SHGs, Income generation, Panchayat raj training, watershed development and agriculture with focus on organic farming
6 Mr. Kiran Kadam AWARD Satara SHGs, Income generation, health
7 Mr.Maruti Bansode Parivartan Samajik Sanstha Naldurga SHGs, development of nomadic tribes, education. Andhashraddha Nirmulan
8 Mr. Shriram Belwalkar Sahil Sangameshwar SHGs, education, focus on rights of landless population

Sparks who have received support from Navam-

  1. Kiran Kadam - AWARD
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Profile of Thingi - 2 (Grooming spark-2) Participants:        

No. Person Organisation District Area of work
1 Ms. Bele Kushavarta Gramin Mahila Vikas Sanstha, Latur Education, women, SHGs
2 Ms. Manda Tofa Vedh Gadchiroli SHGs, Panchayat Raj
3 Ms.Suneeta Gandhi Samwad Chiplun SHGs. Education, Health, Agriculture
4 Mr. Devidas Rathore Lokseva Janvikas Mandal Nanded SHGs, Panchayat raj training, education
5 Mr. Keshav Gurnule Srushti, Gadchiroli Health Income generation  (Forest based),
6 Mr. Tushar Patil Rashtravikas Agro Education Jalgaon Watershed Development
7 Mr. Subhash Mahore AWARD Chandrapur Education, health
8 Jagdish Bhagat Navjivan Gramin Vikas Sanstha Raigad SHGs, Education

Sparks who have received support from Navam-

  1. Kushavarta Bele -  Gramin Mahila Vikas Sanstha
  2. Suneeta Gandhi -  Sanwad
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Profile of Thingi - 3 (Grooming spark-3) Participants:

No. Person Organisation District Area of work
1 Ms. Panchfula Vadde Sankalpa Gram Vikas kendra Nanded SHG, Education, Anti dowry activities
2 Ms. Meenakshi Birajdar Ekatmik krushi va Gramin Vikas Sanstha Aurangabad Health, RCH, SHGs focus is also on action based research
3 Ms. Uma Mane Kshitij, Pune Pune SHGs. Education, Income Generation
4 Mr. Vinay Savant Amrutbhai Mehata Pratishthan Ahmadnagar SHGs. Education, Anti liquor movement
5 Mr. Subhash Shinde Navjevan Bahuudeshiya Sanstha Ahmadnagar SHGs, Work for the Rights of Nomadic tribes
6 Mr. Balaji Suryavanshi Jai Bhavani Shikshan Sanstha Latur SHGs, Income generation, health
7 Mr.Baba Lingayat Lokjagar Chandrpur SHGs, development of nomadic tribes, education. Andhashraddha Nirmulan
8 Mr. Arun Chaudhary YARD Chandrapur SHGs, education, focus on rights of landless population
9 Mr. Ankush Dudhate Sant Damajiappa Sevabhavi Sanstha Parbhani SHG, Education, Agriculture
10 Mr. Nitin Pawar Rasikashray, Yavatmal Yavatmal SHGs, Income generation, Agriculture

Sparks who have received support from Navam-

  1. Uma Mane- Kshitij
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