You are here: Home > News and Events	Search

Way to a 'milky future'

Together with the self-help groups, the community-based organization in Champakapara village in Kerala is on the path to sustainable development. This was not the case few years ago.

Champakapara is one of the interior villages that World Vision works with in the hilly Idukki District of Kerala.  This being a hilly terrain and without access to basic facilities, people had to trek 9 kms to the closest village to access any service. 

Children dropping out of school, lack of access to water for drinking and agriculture perpetuated the cycle of poverty and also led to alcoholism and family disintegration. With failing agriculture, people did not have much option for livelihood.

Cow rearing was a major activity in the village as plenty of pastures were available. But they had no proper market to sell the milk.  The villagers had to walk 10 kms morning and evening to sell milk, as there was no milk collection centre nearby. Most children and women spent their time walking miles together. many a times, the people will have to come back home without selling the milk too

World Vision motivated the Self Help Group (SHG) to start a milk collection centre at their village. One of the SHG, Deepthy, took the initiative to collect and transport the milk to the collection centre. This endeavor of women opened the eyes of villagers to have milk collection centre at their own village. This was a platform for the villagers to come together and they constructed a mud road to their village. World Vision supported and constructed a shed for the milk collection centre and the joint effort brought forth fruits.

Now the milk collection van reaches the village morning and evening and in collecting 200 liters of milk every day. This has reduced the burden of villagers especially children and mothers to a great extent. Now children have more time to study and women have quality time to engage in their home affairs.

The success of their togetherness had a ripple effect in their village. The SHGs and CBO (Community Based Organization) have come together with World Vision   and are striving hard for their village development. The togetherness accelerated the pace of development. The barren and unfertile land was converted into the fertile through integrated farming. The support from World vision for water development, infrastructure, scientific agriculture cultivation, value education, leadership development and housing changed the total scenario of the village.