PROJECTS

EACH ONE TEACH ONE

One of Gandhiji’s suggestions to the people to illiteracy was by the policy, “Each One Teach One”.

The late Mrs. Shakunthala Jagannathan, founder Member, started a scheme in 1997 for poor girls to be sponsored for 4 years, from the 7th to the 10 standards.  The Lady Sivaswami Iyer Girls Higher Secondary School has been selected for this project.

The Sub-Committee members for the Scheme are

• Miss. M. Bargavi Devendra

• Mrs. Meena Arunachalam

• Mrs. Vimala Krishnamurthi

Girl children who are selected are assured of four years of quality education as well as annual scholarships to cover their expenses, all financed by the foster parents for education in English and Tamil medium. This year, those who have completed standard X are being sponsored for a further period of two years till standard XII. The girls come from very poor families such as vegetable and flower vendors and work after school as their income is required by their families.

234 students have, till now, been sponsored by various citizens of Chennai who have come forward to educate the less-fortunate girl children.  Each donor is given a card with the girl’s photograph, family details, interests and other details. Those children who do not find a sponsor are sponsored by the Foundation itself. Some of the sponsors even pay for private tuitions to improve the marks of their foster children. In this way, charitably minded persons who have the money but no time are able to help poor children.

Every year, the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation organizes a function to issue the certificates to the students. The sponsors are also invited to the function and introduced to the students.

In the year 2003-2004, the project was extended to educate poor boys who are economically backward and in need of sponsorship through Key International Foundation, USA.    

So far 216 girls and 18 boys have been sponsored under this project in the following four schools of Chennai.

REVIVAL OF FOLK ART FORMS IN SCHOOLS

Tamilnadu is the repository of several arts and crafts. Every village and its corresponding temple has been a nursery for the arts, which were passed down generations. These arts are devoid of rules and are highly flexible in character. Some are as old as the civilization itself some belong to the recent past, some are even contemporary, and an instantaneous creation to a developing concern. With the onslaught of cinema, traditional folk art forms are slowly getting lost or pushed aside and this is apparent in both the performing and plastic arts.

Urbanization has severely affected the folk arts as the artists have migrated to nearby urban towns in search of jobs and the folk music and dance tradition of villages has almost come to an end. Also, our villages are now unfortunately paying the price for progress and development by allowing themselves to be transformed into satellite of towns under the impact of that global phenomenon, the technological explosion.

The modern school curriculum also leaves only a little time for extra-curricular activities and as a result, children receive neither training nor exposure to the various arts and crafts.  In Tamil Nadu, the importance attached to the cinema at one end and to classical music and dance at another has resulted in the gradual disengagement of folk culture from the lives of the people.In the process, folk culture is gradually being replaced by “Cinema culture”. It is imperative that Tamilnadu not only retains but also revitalizes the ethos of folk culture, a priceless heritage containing an enormous wealth of forms and traditions. Hence, the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation took up a project on “Revival of Folk Art Forms in Schools”, sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

The project seeks to expose children to the finer side of education and development through revival of folk culture. The project aims to bring together folk artists (as resource persons) and teachers so that they could pool their skills to convey important values, such as the oneness of people, the wonders of nature and the urgent projects of survival, conservation of natural resources, the importance of good health, hygiene, population control and national integration, through  traditional art and culture.

The teachers are made to practice folk dances like kummi, kolattam, oyilattam, etc. set to the tune of traditional Tamil folk songs.  The words of the songs express environmental concepts, health, nutrition and so on.  The other subjects include puppetry and puppet making, using natural, inexpensive materials such as old newspaper, old greeting cards, used paper bags, rags, broomsticks, vegetables, etc. and traditional drawing and painting and traditional eco-friendly crafts.

As a follow-up, the project is evaluated by the Foundation later in the year, in the form of an inter-school district competition for the students, exhibitions of their arts and crafts and performances of their music and dance items, in all the areas in which the teachers attended the camps.  The program also awakens the teachers’ creative potential as any art form has the power to arouse the interest of the viewer.  Apart from the teachers, the students, when given an opportunity to acquaint themselves with their cultural heritage, have an outlet for their creativity, as youth is a vast storehouse of untapped potential.

The C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation had taken up projects on Revival of Folk Art Form in Schools in various districts of Tamilnadu in the years 1993-94, 1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005 sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resources Development.  Every year, few districts are taken up, Thanjavur, Madurai and Karaikkal District of Union Territory of Pondicherry being selected this year. In earlier years, the Foundation has covered large number of schools in various districts of Tamilnadu, viz. Chennai, Poonamalle, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Tindivanam, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, and The Nilgiris,  

With the excellent encouragement and coordination received from the State Education Department and the District Education Officials and taking into consideration the keen interest of teachers and students for the above project, the Foundation has introduced “Intensive Refresher Courses” from this year 2004-2005 to few districts every year, for teachers who already attended the camps on Revival of Folk Art Forms in Schools from the above districts, viz. Poonamalle, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram. 

TRAINING OF KOTA, KURUMBA, PANIYA AND IRULA TRIBES IN THEIR TRADITIONAL ART FORMS

Tribal life in the Nilgiris has been affected by external influences.  Initially, it was the colonial western culture. Later, in the post independent period, India’s developmental programmes have excluded tribal arts and crafts.
In order to preserve the art forms of the tribals, the Foundation felt that it is necessary to ensure the continuity of their art. Hence the foundation has been training Kota and Kurumba, Paniya and Irula youth to revive their traditional arts of pottery making, vegetable dye painting and bamboo craft.
The Foundation has trained several Kota women in pottery and Kurumba youth in painting. Their creative endeavour has been channelized during the training to bring out viable product, to fetch a commercial return.
Foundation has organized exhibitions and sales of their products in metropolitan cities like Chennai and Mumbai with due media coverage.

• Kurumbas have become artists

• Kota women have become terracotta artists

SURVEY AND DOCUMENTATION OF ARTS & CRAFTS OF THE KOTA, KURUMBA, IRULA AND PANIYA TRIBES OF THE NILGIRIS

The Nilgiris are designated as a tribal district since they shelter different tribal groups. While every tribe has a specialisation and the unique character, it is decided to survey four tribes initially under this project, the Paniya, Kota, Irulas and Kurumbas.

Each tribe has a specific role to play in the hill area, leading to a specialization in their arts and crafts. For example, the Todas do cane work, embroidery and woodcarving, Kotas make pottery, iron items, carpentry and musical instruments, Irulas and Paniyas create instrumental music and Kurumbas are graphic artists

The purpose of this Documentation is an urgent need to carry out such a survey because the older members of each tribe are passing away.  For example, there is only one potter left among the Kotas, only one artist among the Kurumbas and so on.  If these people pass away without leaving any documentation of their work, it is unlikely that the coming generations – even their own successors - will ever know about their heritage.

The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs & Sports, Department of Culture, Government of India.

CLEAN CHENNAI - GREEN CHENNAI

The school curriculam does not have provision to imbibe the changing phenomena in the state of environment from year to year. The project aimed to create awareness among the students and teachers about pollution, the hazards and the remedial measures.

Aims and Objectives

The primary object of this project is to educate students, about what is pollution, how to control it and the various health problems created by pollution and the agencies to which common man has a right for a clean environment. This project was carried out by conducting workshops for teachers and school students.

As the project title needed exhaustive coverage of Chennai, entire Madras city from Virugambakkam to Santhome, Avadi to Tiruvanmiyoor, Anna Nagar to Tambaram, Triplicane to Royapuram. - One or two schools from all these areas were participants in the teachers’ workshops.

Teaching Aids & Resource materials distributed are distributed to teachers and students during the workshops. Teachers and students of Chennai schools are taught the history of Chennai, its growth and pollution problems in this project which is sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Programmes for teachers, students and field activities are important components of this programme.

TRAINING ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN TRADITIONAL DRAWING AND PAINTING TO ENHANCE THEIR EARNING CAPACITY

To find economic opportunities for the women of Mamallapuram, it was proposed to train 50 adolescent girls in traditional drawing and painting so that their employment opportunities will increase. They can make and sell paintings to the tourists visiting Mamallapuram. Or they may be employed as sculptors’ assistants.

As they lack formal training, adolescent girls in the age group of 12 to 20 were chosen in and around Mamallapuram villages.  Regular training in drawing and painting was imparted.

The following are the beneficiaries:

The successful completion of training students in the beginner’s course between 2003 and January 2004, and the consequent exposure of the students to clients during the exhibition, encouraged them to do paintings for commercial retailing.  It was felt that the students needed further training and knowledge of iconography, the capacity to do larger paintings, to work on intricate designs, variation in colour schemes, usage of oil colours, etc.

Twenty five students from among the previous trainees were selected for upgradation of skills in traditional drawing and painting. 

The following are the beneficiaries:

TRAINING OF KOTA & KURUMBA YOUTH IN THEIR TRADITIONAL ART FORMS

Tribal art forms, especially those of the Kotas and Kurumbas, are nearly vanishing among the youngsters of the two tribes. Traditionally, the Kotas were potters and the Kurumbas the tribal shamans. Today, they have joined the hordes of cheap landless labour.

In order to preserve the art forms of the Kotas and Kurumbas, it was necessary to ensure the continuity of their pottery, the art of pottery making and decoration traditions respectively.  The aim of this project is to train Kota and Kurumba youth in their traditional art/crafts.

TRAINING OF KOTA WOMEN IN THEIR TRADITIONAL POTTERY UNDER NORAD SWAWALAMBAN SCHEME

The Kota are traditional potters of the Nilgiri District. A scheduled Tribe, they are facing the possible extinction of their traditional practices. In the post independent period, India’s development programmes have excluded tribal arts and crafts. Today, the Kotas have joined the hordes of cheap landless labour.

In order to preserve the arts and crafts of the Kotas, it is necessary to ensure the continuity of their pottery making and decoration traditions. The aim of this project is

•     To preserve the art  and craft tradition for posterity

•     To make the art tradition financially remunerative

The following are the beneficiaries:

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN (NEAC)

The National Environmental Awareness Campaign (NEAC) was launched by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India during the year 1985-86. NEAC is one of the major programmes of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to involve public participation in conservation and management of the environment.

The main motive of the programme is to create awareness among the public and make environmental protection a people’s movement, so that each and every citizen of this country should be involved in the protection of the environment. The local environmental problems must be highlighted during the programme to find a long and lasting solution for them.

To begin with only 150 NGOs participated throughout the country. Today more than 4000 NGOs, from all over the country participate in the NEAC programme. The theme for the NEAC is decided by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India every year.
The NEAC is a very vast and widespread outreach programme involving several sections of society and reaching down to the grassroot level.  This has been made possible because of the decentralized process. The Regional Resource Agencies (RRAs) know and work with many of the NGOs on environmental protection. The flexibility of the interaction between the RRAs and the participating organizations makes the programme creative and workable in spite of the vast numbers involved.

The NEAC has thrown up some very creative programmes and useful resource materials, both from the participating RRAs and NGOs.  The NEAC has also been a means of understanding which process reaches the people in the most effective way. Thus performing arts are preferred to lectures, cycle rallies are better than seminars. What is common among the preferred processes is the low cost, entertainment value and easy accessibility and comprehensibility.

There is a definite perception of change:  NGOs believe that deforestation has decreased in Western Orissa, environmental activism has grown in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and tribal and rural communities have become jealous guardians of their natural resources.  There are several environmental “success” stories attributed to the awareness generated by the NEAC.

The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, Chennai was chosen by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India in 1992-93 to function as the RRA for Tamilnadu and Pondicherry.  The Foundation has been appointed as the RRA for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also from the year 2000-2001. Over 300 NGOs are sanctioned under this scheme every year.

The details of NGOs applied and NGOs selected in Tamilnadu, Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands have been shown below: