Mitra community health project **Previous partner
Tambourine has partnered with the Mitra Community Health Project at Christian Hospital Bissamcuttack, a faith-based organisation in Odisha, East India.
The journey to this community winds through forested hills and streams, leading to a significant health provider dedicated to serving a vulnerable region.
Christian Hospital Bissamcuttack (CHB) offers healthcare and development services to 53 tribal villages, supporting around 127,000 people. With two health centers, five community health nurses, and 48 village health workers, they also provide mobile clinics that visit monthly.
The Mitra project values community input by employing Adivasis (Indigenous Indians) and encouraging local leadership. They initiate programs only when requested by villagers. One of their successes is a residential school tailored for Adivasi children, where they learn in their mother tongue, Kuvi, before transitioning to Odia and English.
Community leaders help villagers express their hopes for the future through "community dream sessions," working collaboratively to turn those dreams into reality.
For more information, you can visit: CHB Website
Ka Synjuk Ki HimaArlingWahUmiam-Mawphlang Society **Previous partner
Location: Mawphalong, Meghalaya, North East India
Vision: To restore a green and sustainable economy to benefit the indigenous communities.
Mission: Increase forest cover, improve forest management, and uplift family livelihoods through community participation and leadership.
The Khasi Hills community project is designed to reverse the loss of forest cover in the project area through natural resource management and financial incentives to local communities. It addresses the extreme poverty facing rural families through alternative sources of income and capacity building. For example one aspect of the project has been herbal medicine. This has included capacity building of herbal healers, establishment of propagation nurseries (both aiding the collection of herbs and the conservation of the forest) and marketing.
The project seeks to demonstrate how the Khasi community can themselves implement activities that control drivers of deforestation such as forest fire, unsustainable fuel-wood collection, charcoal-making, agricultural land clearing, grazing and quarrying. Mitigation activities help restore forest cover, improve watershed hydrology and make a transition to more sustainable agricultural systems which are climate resilient.
LINK: synjukmawphlangsociety.com