“It has been an impressive presentation of the works of various units of IDEAS with clarity precision and logical flow. There was evidence-based data, measuring the impacts. Qualitative dimensions of changes were captured through creative videos of the people served. Overall, I would say that it was a high-quality articulation by the staff of their works and the impacts made were deeply satisfying”, stated Mr. Britto, Director of Vaan Muhil. The Advisory Committee (AC) meeting of IDEAS was held on 1 October 2024. The members of AC were Mr. Britto, Vann Muhil, Mrs. Selvagomathy, SOCO Trust, Mr. Aseer, People’s Watch, Ms. Ruby and Fr. Joseph Xavier.

To prepare for the AC meeting a 2-day workshop was held from 27-28 September on Effective Methods for the staff. Fr. Joseph Xavier guided the staff highlighting specific sections to be covered while preparing the presentation, such as overall purpose, specific purpose, information about geographical locations and people directly served, programmatic strategies, methodologies, outputs and outcomes, strengths, weaknesses and challenges, indirect beneficiaries, learnings and evidence to demonstrate changes.

“I learnt how to prepare the works of the unit systematically and present it to an expert group. As this was a collective exercise, I also learnt the works and strategies of other units”, said Mrs. Alagurani from Dalit Women Federation. “I am a new staff of IDEAS, and I am working as a field animator in Dindigul district. I learned how in the past years the MS Unit has made a big impact on the life of manual scavenging workers in Madurai and Viruthunagar districts. Working as a group was a good learning experience. I also learnt how to make a captivating powerpoint presentation using various techniques”, indicated Mr. Vinod Kumar. “I was telling myself, if other unit staff could reach government schemes to the poor why can’t I do it to Dalit women. I gained a lot of clarity about my work and how to reach out to women”, articulated Mrs. Savitri of Dalit Women Federation.

“What I liked most was the handholding support offered in preparing the presentation. Answering various questions, each unit prepared a presentation. The presentations were thoroughly critiqued, and suggestions were made to improve. We went into groups and reworked. Once again Fr. Joe offered valuable comments. I felt so happy when my colleagues presented their work in the Advisory Committee meeting. It was brief, clear and well-articulated. But for the training it would not have been possible”, stated Nagamageshwari, TLRF. “This was our first AC meeting. It was highly encouraging to hear positive comments from the experts. Their observations affirmed our approaches and strategies. They invited us to bring to the board the challenges faced in the field. Overall, it was a joyful experience to interact with the Advisory Committee members”, expressed Muniandi.

Alagurani, Savithri, Vinod Kumar, Nagamageswari and Muniyandi