Sustaining Self-Help Groups for Quality of Life and Community Development

By Jose Kattakkara C.M.I.

Provide Help and Create Hope

For the past 12 years I have been working with the nursing homes in USA in the capacity of a priest and a social worker. I am providing care in 24 nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospices in 4 districts (counties) in the State of Texas as well as visiting hospitals and area prisons. I consider it more than a job but rather a life-giving commitment for life enrichment and to make the people happier with a professional and spiritual outlook. It is a holistic approach for the well-being of every resident to improve the quality of life. We cannot divide body and soul and treat separately. Physical, psychological, social and spiritual wellbeing are intimately connected, go hand in hand and support each other for self fulfilment and self-realization.

In these nursing homes I meet people from all over the world. For example, the majority are from USA, then from Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Germany, England, Japan, Bangladesh, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Italy and Vietnam. People from these countries practice different religions. They are from different colour, ethnicity and race. I hear the residents speaking in different languages although they do not fully understand, yet are able to communicate their immediate needs. They live under one roof as members of the same family and eat the same food in the same dining room cooked by the same staff in the same kitchen.

When I conduct prayer services or gatherings, those who are interested will come no matter which faith or religion they follow. As someone said to me “although I belong to a different religion I would love to come and join here for prayer.” I have never felt any discrimination based on religion, language, nationality or racism in these facilities. In these nursing homes there is no division or hate based on religion, colour or race but only bridges which promote solidarity, love, harmony and universal brotherhood. If these people can live under one roof, eat the same food and pray together then what excuses do we have? No religion teaches division, hate or retaliation but promotes only Love and compassion. My wish is to see the promotion of religion of Humanity by everyone and the practice of God’s Love everywhere.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664196513

Jose Kattakkara C.M.I.

Jose Kattakkara, C.M.I., is a priest. He did his M.S.W and M. Phil at Loyola College in Chennai, India. He worked in Chandrapur, Gadchiorli and Wardha districts in M.S. and Adilabad district in T.S where he organized 247 Self Help Groups. In 1998 he founded the NGO Sarvodaya Society, an orphanage and a school in Chamorshi. He then started Pro Life Foundation as well. Currently he is working in the United States of America.

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Copyright © 2021 by Jose Kattakkara, C.M.I.

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Rev. date: 11/10/2021

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The future will depend on what we do in the present.

Mahatma Gandhi

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The day you have not done a kind deed is lost in your life.

Saint. Chavara

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Foreword

Chapter I Need for Research on Self Help Groups

Chapter II Dimensions of Social Development and the Role of Rights in Its Achievement

Chapter III SHG, Social Change and Quality of Life

Chapter IV Social Reformers and Quality of Life

Chapter V Presentation of Data and Main Findings

Chapter VI Discussion

Chapter VII Scope of Social Work in Social Development through the Promotion of SHG

Bibliography

Appendix A

Appendix B

Annexures

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank Rev. Dr. Joseph Xavier, S.J., Principal, Loyola College, for his encouragement and guidance in my research career. I place on record my sincere thanks for the valuable guidance of Dr. Joachim, Head of the Department, Prof. Keith Gomez, my supervisor, Dr. Shanmugavelayutham, Dr. Udaya Mahadevan and other faculty members in the Department, towards the completion of my Dissertation.

I wish to acknowledge the contribution of MS Niraimthi from Chennai who helped me with the statistical analysis.

I am grateful to the inmates of Sarvodaya Society and the DST Sisters at Chamorshi, for their continuous support.

I wish to acknowledge the contribution of Bill Gier to complete this work.

Above all, my wholehearted praise and thanks to The Almighty for the many favours I received.

(Joseph K A)

Jose Kattakkara

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INTRODUCTION

I met Jose (Joe) Kattakkara through a good mutual friend and have received his help many times since. He has been a great boon to me as I have taken care of my aged mother and moved through other challenging times.

When Kattakkara decided to publish his dissertation Sustaining Self-Help Groups for Quality of Life and Community Development, I had already read his first book on the subject, a type of manual for community organizers. His dissertation supplies the backstory to that book. Upon reviewing the dissertation, I encouraged him to remove some of the research elements to an appendix to make the work more accessible to the general reader. The hope is that those who wish to find ways to organize their communities can supply deeper and more clear reasons for valuing the criteria of Self-Help and working to hold such groups together. The goal is to perform the work and pass it on to new generations such that the quality of life in rural India can develop and grow.

The author here does not mince words. Right away, he tells us that India’s masses suffers from mal-nutrition and illiteracy. Such evils in the realm of social and economic life have made rural people apathetic. In fact, any form of human devastation at scale has similar outcomes. One can see instances all over the globe. But this book is for the special circumstances of a country with a past of glory, a recent history of shaking off colonial rule, and a list of national heroes who have transformed the thinking of the world. Mahatma Gandhi is but one that is reframed here in terms of Self-Help.

The reader is encouraged to read straight through once to get a sense of just how complex is the work of Self-Help. Afterwards, he or she might decide to choose one concept to follow through the work, one that inspires or interests. The greatest hope of Kattakkara is that his readers would investigate Self-Help more deeply and begin to participate in a small way that can eventually connect to the larger work of such groups. Many doors are opened in this work.

May you enter into one.

Dr. Robin Latimer, Director, Dissertation Standards, Lamar University, USA

10 September 2021

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FOREWORD

I am privileged to write this Forward for Jose Kattakkara, C.M.I. affectionally known by many as Fr. Joe regarding his newest book, Sustaining Self Help Group for Quality of Life and Community Development. His dissertation beautifully breaks down the details of his research on how he implemented the Self Help Group (SHG) approach, why he focused on women and the results of his field experience. I have known Fr. Joe as a Spiritual Director and one who is interested in helping others since we are both in the field of holistic health and wholeness of body, mind and spirit.

Our monthly sessions led to many discussions about his experiences in India helping the poor and marginalized. Fr. Joe said, The Indian rural challenge is two-fold: creating opportunities for all and to stop the continuing discrimination, inequalities based on caste, sex, class, area and religion. We shared the concerns we see in the poor in the United States such as in the nursing homes where he has ministered for many years.

Our time together led to our first collaboration in a 2014 presentation of his first book, A Self Help Group Approach and Community Organization in a Rural Village at the Lamar Educational Research Conference held in Beaumont, Texas, which chronicled his one month living in an Indian rural community with the poor. In it, he identified women who are the most marginalized and explained his SHG method and how it is diverse and inclusive. I discussed how SHG can be an approach here in the US with the poor since these problems are universal. Fr. Joe concludes that SHG is a way to experience and promote social justice and dignity for all.

Afterwards, Fr. Joe met the Chair of the Conference, Dr. Dorothy Sisk who invited him to return yearly. Thus, in 2019, she asked if we would present this final time as the conference was ending its annual duration. Our final presentation was on Forgiveness. Fr. Joe spoke and confirmed the need for forgiveness within groups as his research in India found this brings collaboration within families and communities. Fr. Joe concluded the presentation that forgiveness is universal and a part of our everyday life for peaceful coexistence, disregarding all differences.

As a Certified School Counselor (CSC) who worked in Title I schools and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who works with clients to keep abreast of the newest methodologies as I teach Field Experience graduate courses, Fr. Joe and I have both worked with lower socio-economic families to try to meet their needs, whether at school or in communities, agencies or nursing homes. His latest book, Sustaining Self Help Group for Quality of Life and Community Development is a guide to direct those who want to use the SHG approach. And I believe Fr. Joe’s desire to help the poor wherever God leads him to serve is evident in every page of this latest book.

Sincerely,

Patricia A. Harris

Dr. Patricia A. Harris, CSC, NCC, NCSC

MEd in Counseling and Development, Texas LPC #70403

College of Education and Human Development

Department of Counseling

Lamar University

August 18, 2021

CHAPTER I

Need for Research on Self Help Groups

Introduction*

People in mobs, collectivism and in crowds are totally different from community. Community is formed by a group of people in a specific geographical area who experiences communion, common fellowship and healthy interactions. They share moral principles, values, cultures, customs, traditions, taboos, beliefs and the natural resources of the area. The interdependence between the persons in a community is elemental. It raises questions, like how do these groups tend to shape personality, quality of life and community development? It is in an answer to these questions where the relevance and promotion of Self-Help Group (SHG) arises. This is an approach and method which brings a new arena for human growth through organization smaller in size than community to support the unorganized, the helpless and the voiceless poor. SHG is an independent entity, but not an end in itself. It is connected with various factors and living realities of the people. Its primary objectives are (a) human development, (b) break boundaries, (c) build bridges, (d) promote harmony, (e) bring unity and (f) empower the people for self-realization. The integral development of the person for a better tomorrow is the goal. It also acts as a backbone for the community organization, social change and improvement in the Quality of Life. The vision is to liberate the poor from their low self-esteem and lead them to the unlimited possibilities. The mission is to organize the unorganized people and create hope in them through animation, interaction, intervention and skill training within their living situation. SHG promotes total development of the individual, family, community and brings religious harmony.*

Social Development

The term Social Development has been used in a very comprehensive sense. Its full meaning in different context can be grasped when the objectives of its programmers are being analyzed in detail. Social development is all about a process to improve the well-being of every individual in a society leading to a qualitative life by using available resources through socially acceptable means. Social development is a life promoting process that enables the individual for self-actualization. This is possible through an ongoing series of implementing various appropriate schemes and by applying useful methods to make positive changes in all aspects and areas of human life. It aims at the comprehensive changes in the life for everyone through integral approaches and applications of new technologies. Social changes are happening in several ways, in certain times and in many locations; one of them is through implementing multiple developmental programs. Sustainable development policies and timely implementation of every scheme makes the social changes phenomenal, impressive, realistic and sensible. The main objectives of social development programs are to carry out the physical reconstructions of an area with the available resources and bring all-around progress in the socio-economic life of all people in that area with their participation. The aim of social development is social transformation of the society as a whole for a better life. In this life-infusing process the involvement and input of the professional social workers in every context and in all stages will enhance and achieve the desired results in a better way.

Quality of Life

Life is a gift of God. Improving the quality of life is entirely a subjective matter. Life is being influenced and modified by a number of factors such as education, attitude, family, structures, systems, situations, circumstances, health, languages, values, government, cultures, traditions, social institutions, religion, finance, policies, neighborhoods, planning, climate and infrastructures. The concept of quality of life by nature is highly subjective and difficult to define or measure. Often it includes measurements of physical and social function, economic stability, psychological happiness, functional capacity, somatic sensation, and the sense of well-being as impacted by the health status. A healthy person does not mean simple absence from all kinds of physical sickness. Rather it means free from all types of health problems such as physical weakness, social isolation, mental depression, emotional stress, spiritual struggle, financial crisis and psychological imbalance. Hence the priority for better quality of life for everyone must take precedence over all other claims. We will discuss this concept later in the book.

Some Background History

The name India is originally derived from the name of the river Sindhu (Indus River). India is a land of paradoxes. Even today, 70 percent (censes 2013) of India’s population are living in villages. The vast majority of people are marginal farmers and extremely poor. Due to the intense industrialization during the post-independence period, urban population has been increasing consistently in industrialized areas and in each district’s (county) headquarters at a rapid rate. In the past, besides the family, villages were the basic units of socialization and the economic backbone in India. Rulers were being changed often, but the village life in India has remained intact to a noticeable extent until today. The various sections of the Indian village communities, irrespective of their occupations pursued or continued, were being interdependent and lived under an integrated, socio- economic and administrative organization of the local community. The villages had their own Judicial System (Panchayats), values and moral principles. Use of herbal medicines, healthy neighbourhood interactions, mutual support, polite conversation, respect for seniors, simple lifestyle, tolerance and docile behaviour were the hallmarks of the Indian village life. The village life was self-sufficient at the economic, religious and social levels. In this context, it is appropriate to view the Indian village communities in the past as an Independent Sovereign Republic.

After Independence, the problems of economic backwardness, poor social development and deterioration of village life, has received more attention or concern from the public. During the British colonial rule (1757-1947) in India, the self-sufficiency of the village economic independence and organizational setup had got a set back and then gradually declined. By the end of 19th century, India was made the biggest cash cow of the British Empire through looting and exploitation. Hence one of the richest countries, India became the poorest country in the world. The political subjection and economic exploitation by different governments deprived the village people of their initiative and took away the purpose of self-responsibility and the sense of belonging to their community. The republican character of the village was replaced by an individualistic orientation and the village people were compelled to forget the benefits of cooperative efforts and community enterprises. Gradually, the older self-sufficiency of the village was disappearing and many interior villages became dens of poverty and miseries. Further, the poverty, helplessness, oppression and feeling of hopelessness of Indian peasants caused them to swallow social, educational and cultural backwardness of village life. These and many other related factors blocked their economic growth, interaction with the outside, social advancement and improvement in the quality of life. All these caused to create a defensive attitude that has always remained in their minds to stay back. Due to the low caste (division of Hindu society) status and social discrimination the rural poor were forced to stay in their comfort zone.

India Today

India has been a secular federal country since its independence in 1947. India is governed by a democratic parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multi-lingual, multi-culture, multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. India is the second most populated (1,384,660,352 = 1.39 billion in 2020), the seventh largest country by land area and the largest democratic country in the world. According to the 2019 revision of the world population prospects, India has more than 65 percent population below the age group of 35 years. This shows us India is a youthful nation with lot of dreams and has an abundance of human resources. Now, it is time to take a quick leap from traditional way and adopt the modern methods for quality education, promote research and encourage scientific discoveries. India is a nuclear power and has its own space programs. Even though India genuinely believes that the best world would be a nuclear disarmed and nuclear free world. India is facing various aggressive issues that make hurdles to its integral growth very hard and difficult to overcome. Some of the major problems are named here as well:

(i) Over population, water contamination, air and sound pollution. We see that the rivers and water sources are being threatened by dumping dangerous substances and by mistreatments. Our insatiable greed and overconsumption threatens the rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and oceans. Water sources are drying up everywhere and surface water level is going down every year. Once-sacred rivers like Ganga and Brahmaputra are poisoned by irresponsible dumping of every kind of waste and dirt from factories and other facilities. On May 12, 2021, more than 100 bodies of Covid-19 patients were found floating in river Ganga at Buxar and Ghazipur districts areas. Tons of plastic and dirty substances are carelessly discarded in every river. These cause unimaginable damage for clean and healthy water. The healing presence and quality of river, lake and stream water is disappearing.

(ii) Ineffectiveness of the social and economic Top-Down planning method to provide the basic living requirements for the poor.

(iii) Revival of the caste system, division and hate based on religion.

(iv) Systematic targeting, isolating and scapegoating the minorities. For example, Fr. Stan Swamy (Jesuit Catholic Priest), the tribal right activist, died in police custody on July 5, 2021, at the age of 84. He was denied bail repeatedly, despite suffering from Parkinson’s disease and Covid-19. He was detained under UAPA without any evidence. His death in custody is a requiem for justice. On July 12th 2021, Delhi civic authorities demolished the Catholic church in Chattarpur in New Delhi.

(v) Unemployment and poverty have caused the poor people to migrate endlessly.

(vi) There is a plague of corruption everywhere.

(vii) New political parties are emerging every year in each State. There were 2698 registered political parties in India (2019, Wikipedia). This tells us democracy has become a mockery in India. Now, Indian politics is highly infiltrated with the caste system and divisiveness. If we do not learn lessons from our past history, the present history will teach us what the history was. The core and sole nature of the Indian mind set is to Divide. Before the British colonization, India was being divided into many small kingdoms and ruled by too many petty kings. Now the Indian people are being divided by numerous political parties. After the elections, greed for power tempted some of the winners to suppress their consciousness and to receive hush money or bribes from opposite political parties to support them has become an epidemic. A few of the compromised and latest examples for these complicit actions or crooked methods were done by BJP after the elections in 2019 at Karnataka State assembly and in 2020 at Madhya Pradesh State assembly. The BJP toppled down the winner and legitimately elected ruling governments in these States. This is an embarrassment and an unprecedented disgrace for democracy. In politics and public life if there is no dharma, honesty, sincerity, commitment, values, transparency, principles and morals how will the democracy survive? Democracy seems to be fragile in India and democracy itself is in peril at the present time.

(viii) The interference of politicians to protect the criminals and dishonest Central and State government employees in all departments has become common. This causes the loss of faith in job ethics, morals, values, honesty, sincerity and commitment among the good employees.

As the reader will see, the findings of the research for this book revealed that the rural village community is becoming more conscious of their present plight. We can see the strong desire in the rural people for healthy food, quality education, better clothing, good health, transportation facilities and a decent life. The centuries old harmonized and peaceful village life settings are crumbling and weakening extremely fast. Unfortunately, the restlessness and hopelessness among the unemployed young people have begun to explode spontaneously through their participation in terrorist activities like Naxalites and Maoism. This happens due to the failures in our education system, development planning, top-down method, unemployment and policy paralysis which need immediate diagnosis and modifications. Hence, the imperative need of the time is to help such people to achieve a better quality of life and provide diverse opportunities to fulfill their good desires. This help should be consistent and substantial in order to bring out a new synthesis of relationship and change by a year of marked development policies in all areas of social life among the rural poor. The Indian rural poor are facing endless major obstacles in their everyday lives. Some of these problems are illiteracy, corruption, weather failures, crop failures, poverty, division, discrimination, migration and unemployment.

Illiteracy

As per the UNESCO report of the year (2017-18), 35 % of the world’s illiterate population resides in India. The high percentage of illiteracy in the countryside is alarming and it is the vital factor leading to poverty and backwardness of the rural people. In India, quality education is a prerogative of the rich. There exists a wide disparity between the rural and urban areas, male and female education, rural and urban educational facilities. The reader will understand this in the data analyzed chapter. Still, India practices the inherited colonial system of education to create servants to serve but not to lead which is now considered as a white elephant method. The present rural educational system is to be reviewed, renewed, revised and reformed to provide quality education for all. Education is not the learning of facts, but training of the mind to think Albert Einstein. The attitude of ‘Chalta Hai’ (let it be) for everything every day is to deal with here and now behaviour to bring social changes as a reality. The need to create awareness among the poor regarding the rapid developments in the modern world and how to adapt it in their everyday life to promote integral changes among them is a herculean task. Rural areas always sink from a low to a lower level than the areas around them far numerous reasons. Those agencies established to alleviate poverty and backwardness among the Indian rural poor usually fail or ignore to develop different modern skills and provide training to make the rural poor competitive with other people in different developed countries in the world. One of the attributed reasons for the presence of a lacuna is that the countryside is not yet conscious of or not conscientious enough to utilize available local resources in the process of their socio-economic development. The rural people are ruled by government officials in their traditional bureaucratic way of fashion and fancies of different governments in spite of the good intentions and wishes of the people expressed through their representatives in the legislature. The foremost tasks of the Government and NGOs are to awake the villagers’ intelligence, provide skill training education, create job opportunities and promote hope in life to become an independent, self-determining person to enjoy the fruits of freedom.

Indian Constitution and Social Development

The Indian Constitution envisages a democratic, socialist and secular form of government with a parliamentary system for the country. The solid foundations for social development programs of a democratic country like India cannot be achieved its goal until the villages begin to function as the basic units for carrying out the policies and developmental schemes of the governments, both at the center level and at the state level. If democracy is to be firmly established in the social structure of the country then the village Panchayats (local body) should be strengthened more through Grama Saba (the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system) for a harmonious village life on the basis of socio-economic situation in the area. Here the active and positive participation of the local people in all fields especially in agriculture