Indo Sri Lankan Development (Island) Trust
 

A Mission with Vision
 
 

ISLAND TRUST which stands for Indo Sri Lankan Development Trust was founded in July 1984 in Tamil Nadu, South India, by renowned social activists and educators to render succor, relief and rehabilitation services to the displaced Tamil repatriates from Sri Lanka.

Island Trust has completed a quarter century walking with its target group developing their capacities in a professional and yet down-to-earth approach to identify the resources and the opportunities to attain their holistic development.

The footprints of Island Trust demonstrate that the repatriates from Sri Lanka, local plantation laborers belonging to Dalit communities and the native tribal communities in the Nilgiris were able to accomplish their needs and move towards self reliance by raising their level of capacity through well-designed sustainable and rights-oriented programs of Island Trust.

The multifaceted activities of the Trust aim at the development of children, women and youth from marginalized communities. Among its various projects, priority is given to education, livelihood promotion, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS and climate-change reduction projects. Island Trust now serves in 225 villages in the six taluks of the Nilgiri district.


The PLHIV at the CCC are attended to by one full-time allopathic doctor, three staff nurses, one counselor, four outreach workers and two helpers. The Centre is administered by a project coordinator and an accountant. At the end of December 2010, 305 PLHIV have received care and support from the centre. Out of these, 130 are men (including 8 male children) and 174 are women (including 8 female children) and 1 transgender.

Every PLHIV is followed up after their discharge from the CCC and assisted with social care which ensures enjoyment of their fundamental rights, right to life and dignity and getting welfare services from the government system.

HIV Prevention in Rural Areas
A project known as Link Workers Scheme is implemented in 120 villages in 30 panchayats of the Nilgiris district with the specific objective of reaching out to high-risk groups (HRG) and vulnerable men and women in rural areas with information, knowledge, skills on STI/HIV prevention and risk reduction. It is an effort to build a community-centered model for rural areas to address HIV prevention, care, support and treatment requirements in the district.
The project is implemented with the support of NACO (National AIDS Control Office)/TANSACS/APAC (AIDS Prevention and Control Project) (www.apacvhs.org). The project assists HRG people living with STI and refers them to government health departments to get adequate treatment to prevent HIV infection.

3. TRIBAL EMPOWERMENT
Adhivasi Development Initiatives and Fifth Schedule Campaign
Activities
Community organization
Education promotion
Tribal leader capacity building
Campaign for the constitutional right of 5th schedule (self rule)
Legal aid for land rights/FRA 2006
Cultural shows and functions
Documentation of their traditional knowledge systems

4. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION AND REDUCTION:
Island Trust is seriously engaged in protecting the environment of the Nilgiris since the 1990s. Our volunteer watchdog committees in the name of Nature’s Eyelids have done yeomen service in protecting the environmental sanctity of the Nilgiris Biosphere. (Please refer to our service on Environment.)

As one step further, Island Trust has plunged into educating the public and our focus group communities especially the tribal communities about the climate-change impacts and facilitating their involvement in reducing it.

Our activities in Climate Change Project include:
Climate-change education in villages and schools
Study of people’s experience on climate change video documentation of climate change effects (ref: www.tamwed.org)
Campaign with local bodies – panchayats and municipalities
Rallies and public meetings for awareness generation on climate change
Planting of 25,000 saplings in tribal and community lands in 2009-2010
Facilitation of lifestyle changes among the community members
Promotion of organic farming and sustainable agriculture
Exhibitions on climate-change effects on the Nilgiris district at important government functions and gatherings
Filing of legal cases against grabbing of natural resources
Organizing 350.org Climate Change Action Day at the district level
Strengthening of Nature’s Eyelids Environmental Protection Group with open membership to CBOs and environmental activists
Island Trust receives funding support from TAMWED, a UK-based NGO (www.tamwed.org) for climate-change activities since 2009.

5. Women Empowerment
Activities
Formation of SHGs
Entrepreneurship development training
Leadership training for women, particularly for the elected women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (local bodies)
Economic development for widows and the destitute
Campaign and advocacy for women’s rights

5.1. Promotion of Women Leadership in Local Governance (PRI)
To ensure political participation of women in the three-tier governance as per the Panchayat Raj Act (73rd amendment to the Indian constitution), a campaign and training has been undertaken since 1996.
Our efforts are complimented by The Hunger Project, USA/India (www.thp.org), and a serious process of building women’s leadership in PRI is taking place. Currently, 152 elected women representatives (EWR) are given hand-holding support by Island Trust through capacity-building training on PRI Act, administration of PRI, the new acts and schemes related to PRI, leadership skills and the campaign and advocacy skills.

They are federated into block level and district level federations. This gives them the courage to assert their rights and leadership in the panchayat raj system. The trained EWR are functioning with self esteem, independence and commitment.

6. ENVIRONMENT

Activities

Eco-club formation in schools and in communities where schools do not exist
Campaign against the use of plastics, mining, undue commercialization of natural resources
Interaction programs between CBOs and forest officials on preservation/
promotion of the forest and collection of non-timber products
Planning and implementation of watershed programs
Promotion of sustainable agriculture/alternative farming
Tree planting and protection
Study of the status of the environment and sustainability level of the target communities before and after intervention
Campaign and lobby for protection of forests and community resources

7. TRAINING AND RESOURCE CENTRE

Island Trust serves as a training and resource center for NGOs, CBOs, SHG federations, tribal movements, organizations working with people with disabilities/HIV-AIDS, children, etc., and conducts training according to the needs of the organizations. Island Trust has a team of professionally
qualified and experienced trainers on thematic subjects and skill development of staff and people’s leaders. It has a beautiful and well-equipped training center with modest facilities which caters to the needs of NGOs/CBOs at an affordable cost. Social work students from Madras School of Social Work and Peryiar Maniyammai University, Thanjavur, have also made use of our resource center facilities.

8. OVERSEAS VOLUNTEER EXPOSURE PROGRAM

Island Trust receives volunteers from abroad who want to have exposure in our projects and communities and share their expertise in the areas of our intervention. We welcome overseas volunteers in the areas of education, health, environment, climate change, research and development, and children’s programs.