Society for the Development of the Depressed (SDD)
EDUCATION - EMANCIPATION - EMPOWERMENT
15/A Arockiyanathar Street Chetpet 606801
Polur Taluk ,Tiruvannamalai District Tamil Nadu
India
Contact person: M. Manavalan
+91 04181 252896; +91 04181 252339; +91 94435 57572
info@sdd.org.in
manavalansdd@gmail.com
http://www.sdd.org.in
Topics
- Commune, community project
- Educational policy/project
- Human rights
- Overnight facilities
- Volunteers are welcome.
About us
Located in Chetpet in Thiruvannamalai District in Tamil Nadu (India), as a grassroots-level NGO, Society for the Development of the Depressed (SDD), registered in 1989, has, over the years, made a definite dent in the education arena within its jurisdiction by innovating and implementing a multitude of initiatives aimed at supporting as well as supplementing the formal educational opportunities available for children belonging to the depressed sections of the society.
The main objective of SDD is "To help the Dalits to help themselves".
Our mission is "To emancipate and empower the depressed sections through the instrument of education."
As a part of its ´Education First´ Campaign, currently SDD has in place four major initiatives:
• Student Sponsorship Programme: SDD has been sponsoring a handful of students, taking care of their expenses for pursuing their education in quality schools.
• Free Tuition Centres: These centres provide the environment and support required by children for doing their homework. Also each centre has one or two SDD volunteers to personally guide individual students.
• Free Computer Training: This centre is intended to provide basic computing skills free of cost to deserving candidates.
• Summer Camp for Students: Every year SDD has been conducting a free Residential Summer Camp at Chetpet for school leaving (SSLC) students belonging to the depressed sections. Participants in the camp are provided intensive coaching in select subjects by teachers associated with different schools.
• Future plan - Setting up a Finishing School: Accordingly, the proposed Finishing School would coach students in the art of taking Aptitude Tests as well as would provide tips and techniques for attending interviews. Also the Finishing School would be extending Soft Skill training and also intensive Spoken English training. SDD proposes to invite specialists in the respective subjects as guest faculty members to accomplish the objective.
Activities
• SDD has formed Ambedkar Women´s Associations for Dalit youth and has assisted these associations to federate under the banner of "Rural Women´s Self-Reliant-Movement". This movement addresses the issues of Dalits pertaining to their basic needs like drinking water, housing, burial ground, transportation, schools and primary health centers. It also addresses issues related minimum wages and social discrimination. In order to effectively take up these issues SDD is training regularly groups of young people in legal education, leadership skills and social analysis.
• SDD also trained a group of young women and men in street theatre skills and formed a street theatre group, which goes around the villages performing street theatre programmes, which serve as an effective medium of communication with the people.
• The youth groups have also taken up step to join the young girls to taken up saving and credit schemes in 5 villages. The young women have been trained in legal issues and community health issues with an emphasis on traditional medical practices.
M. Manavalan is the Founder and President of the Society for the Development of the Depressed (SDD),
For other net participants we can offer overnight facilities. Also we can establish new contacts in the field of our work.
