Adding yet another feather to their cap, Kudumbashree Construction Groups take up the construction of PMAY houses at Kollam Corporation. The Kudumbashree Construction groups from Kollam will build 24 PMAY houses at Kollam Corporation. It is as part of rehabilitating the residents at the Alakkukuzhy slum in the cantonment division of Kollam that the houses are being constructed. The houses would be constructed at Mundakkal, Kollam. A total of 20 houses of 500 sqft area will be built in each 3 cents of land.The expenses of the construction would be met from the PMAY fund and the additional amount from the fund of Kollam Corporation. The contract regarding the same had been signed between Kudumbashree and Kollam Corporation on 17 November 2018. As per the contract, Kollam Corporation handed over the land to Kudumbashree Construction groups on 15 December 2018. The foundation stone of the houses were laid by Adv. V.Rajendra Babu, Mayor, Kollam corporation on 31 December 2018.

Two Kudumbashree construction groups from Kollam Corporation will be in charge of the construction of the houses. In addition, constrcution team members from Sasthamkotta, Shooranad, Kottarakkara and those who got trained through NULM, DDUGKY etc would become part of the programme. It is planned to complete the construction works within 1 year time.

Pathanamthitta District Planning Committee meeting scheduled on 31 Dec 2018,  3:30 pm at Collector's Conference Hall

Nataraja Kalasamithi is Kudumbashree's first transgender dance group formed under Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission during November 2018. The Nataraja Kalasamithi was formed by 5 transgenders from Ernakulam district of Kerala. The members of the group include Amrutha, Saya, Faizal Faizu, Mereena and Shalu. Amrutha and Mereena are the President and Secretary of the group.

Almost all the members of the group are trans-women.They were living in Ernakulam for the past five years and had tried so many ways to get some job but nobody responded and finally they went to the Kudumbashree office seeking help. And later they joined Kudumbashree and formed a transgender NHG group named Lakshya. The NHG meets every sunday evening and have started accumulating their thrift. On consulting with Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission they realized that there is a project for them named Prathyasha which provide assistance to start a business.

When they seriously thought of a livelihood initiatives, they put forward the proposal to start a dance troop. Recognizing their talent, district mission also agreed to support them in this venture. The District Mission provided financial support to procure the stage properties. They consulted Ernakulam District Mission co-coordinator and ensured that they will get as many chances for performance. Now they are performing cinematic dance, epic dance dramas and bale. There are another 12 transgender artists cooperating with the troop as per need. Now they are getting more and more stages after each performance. Besides the stages, they perform various art forms in processions of temples, churches and other organisations. They are also getting opportunities to perform for commercial advertisements as well. They also became part of Rangashree, the community theater group of Kudumbashree Mission working to explore the ideas of Kudumbashree towards the community which allocate the members towards the different programs of LSGDs in the district. The team members of Nataraja Kalasamithi is thankful to Kudumbashree Mission for helping them achieve their goals.

DPC Meeting Thiruvananthapuram on 17.12.2018 - 11.30 am at district panchayat hall Thiruvananthapuram

Kollam District Planning Committee meeting scheduled on Wednesday 12 Dec 2018

Idukki District Planning Committee Meeting scheduled on Monday 10 December 2018, 2.30pm

Kudumbashree Mission had successfully conducted a training course on the ‘Basic methods in Community Education and Counselling for Community Counsellors of Kudumbashree’ in collaboration with Department of Psychology, University of Kerala from 3-7 December 2018. The valedictory function of the training was inaugurated and certificate distribution was done by Shri. A.C Moideen, Minister for Local Self Governments, Government of Kerala on 7 December 2018. The programme was inaugurated by Smt. T.N Seema, Chairperson, Harithakerala Mission and Kudumbashree Governing Body Member on 3 December 2018. Kudumbashree Mr. S Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission interacted with the participants regarding the activities and future plans after the inaugural function. The training was conducted at Kariyavattom Campus, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram. 350 counsellors from all the 14 districts across Kerala participated in the programme.

Detail sessions were conducted by eminent academicians and practitioners in eight parallel sessions. The training included wide topics such as counselling skills, yoga, positive thinking, happiness, personal development, premarital counselling, identification of behavioral problems, mental health issues, ethics to be followed, referrals to mental health services etc. Assessment examinations were conducted everyday in all the classrooms. Dr. Tissy Mariam Thomas, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology was the training coordinator of the programme.

There are 350 community Counsellors in the Kudumbashree network to give support and guidance to the community. They are the trained persons selected from among the Kudumbashree members. Community counsellors are involved with gender self learning activities by providing psycho social support, case study and analysis, crisis management, home visit etc. They mostly deal with cases related to gender based violence, domestic violence, sexual abuse, harassment, human trafficking, educational issues of children and referral services. They conduct awareness programmes and deal cases registered in the Gender Resource Centers and counseling centers of Kudumbashree Mission. Over these years, community counselors in the state dealt with a wide variety of cases and given them adequate support needed. The training programme enabled the community counsellors to identify and intervene in the wide variety of programmes they deal with.