Introductory:

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC
REHABILITATION OF RURAL YOUTH
16, CENTRAL PARK
KOLKATA 700 032
INDIA

Tel: 033-91-24256926; email: ferrybengal@gmail.com

About FERRY

Annual Report 2006
Annual Report 2005
Annual Report 2004

Annual Report 2003

Project Sites:

Rampurhat

Khanyan

Baidyapur

Kalanabagram

Borshul

DIG

Annual Report 2006

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC REHABILITATION OF RURAL YOUTH
TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
ANNUAL REPORT 2005-06

It seems almost unbelievable that what began as little more than a dream and a desire to do something for the underprivileged youth of rural West Bengal, and which led to the formation of FERRY in 1983, has completed nearly a quarter-century of existence. The extended FERRY family will recognise that this is no small achievement, given the circumscribed nature of FERRY’s mandate and its steadfast refusal to branch out into areas of operation that do not fall within the ambit of its primary task of equipping the young women and men of rural West Bengal with the means to take their first steps on the road to economic self-sufficiency.
Throughout its existence, FERRY has tried to learn from its successes and failures, and sought to innovate where the nature of the courses it conducts, and the help it seeks to provide to its trainees, is concerned. One such innovation has been the setting up of training-cum-production units where FERRY’s trainees can work together to minimise individual costs (in terms of time, effort and money) and maximise returns. The success of the training-cum-production unit for Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments at Rampurhat has encouraged FERRY to try and set up a similar unit for Machine Embroidery at the same project site.
Also encouraging has been the increasing and enthusiastic local participation at Rampurhat which has made FERRY’s work considerably easy and its trainees’ future prospects brighter. We are hoping that such local involvement will translate into the generation of financial and other resources which, in turn, will make it possible for FERRY to conduct at least a few courses without having to depend on external funding.
FERRY’s work for the underprivileged youth of rural West Bengal would not have been possible without the continuing support, active encouragement and constructive criticism of its longstanding project-partner, the Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft (DIG) e.V., Germany. Particular thanks are due to Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick, President of the Wuppertal branch of the DIG e.V, whose regular monitoring of FERRY’s activities and visits to its project site at Rampurhat are a continuing source of encouragement and inspiration for all FERRY members.
Thanks are also due to FERRY’s project-partner Canada-India Village Aid (CIVA), which is now into the second year of its support of FERRY’s activities at Khanyan. CIVA has also funded one training course at Baidyapur, details of which are given below.

RAMPURHAT PROJECT

In the year under review, Rampurhat remained FERRY’s busiest project centre. At times, two training courses, along with the machine knitting unit, were running concurrently at the project site. That despite the workload, the centre keeps functioning with clockwork precision can be attributed to two factors: one, the tireless contribution of Rampurhat project-in-charge Sri Madhusudan Banerjee, and project assistant, Sri Sukanta Bhattacharya; two, the local support base FERRY enjoys in Rampurhat, as mentioned in the introduction. At the moment, there are 13 associate members of FERRY at Rampurhat, some of them former trainees, and all of them come up with meaningful contributions whenever FERRY needs them. Rampurhat has thus been wonderfully successful in enthusing local people to actively take part in the activities of FERRY and this can be a model for other project centres to emulate.
FERRY has also been attracting more and more trainees from outside Rampurhat, in some cases from places located as far as 30 km away. These trainees come to the centre using an assortment of transport services—trains, buses etc. This proves that FERRY is beginning to cater to a much wider area of Birbhum district, with Rampurhat at the Centre, and helping young men and women from fairly remote locations become financially independent.
A number of courses running concurrently at the centre have forced FERRY to put up a partition down the middle of the ground floor to fashion two classrooms out of one. On the other hand, the toilet at the project site has been rendered almost useless, with the foundation on the far side (on the bank of the pond) having caved in. FERRY needs to immediately build a new toilet preferably with a water tank on top and with running water. The number of trainees coming to the centre at any given time has increased and the need for a proper toilet is now felt all the more. To prevent the foundation of the main building from suffering the same fate, the bank of the pond will be paved with bricks and concrete with money provided by the DIG. However, FERRY appeals to its members to generate funds for the construction of the toilet.
In this context, FERRY would like to express its sincere thanks and gratitude to Frau Gisela Chakravarty, Frau Gertrude Banerjee and Sri Nitaidas Banerjee for their efforts in raising funds to buy embroidery machines for the proposed production unit at Rampurhat. As always, FERRY would like to record its gratitude to Sri Shyamal Bhattacharjee, Smt. Shipra Bhattacharya and Smt. Suparna Banerjee for their cooperation and assistance in all aspects of FERRY’s work in Rampurhat, and their unfailing hospitality to FERRY members visiting the project site.

1. Electronic Appliances Repair and Maintenance: This year-long course began in February 2006 with 20 trainees and Sri Chandan Kumar Mukherjee, of the John Baird Electronics Training Society, Rampurhat as trainer. Four long wooden desks and benches, able to seat 20, were made especially for this course by former trainees of FERRY’s carpentry course held at Rampurhat.
2. Machine Embroidery: As was mentioned in last year’s annual report, following the overwhelming response to the advertisement for this course, two back-to-back training programmes had been planned. The first of these, which began in February 2005 with 21 trainees, came to an end in September that year. All but one of the trainees completed the course and the performance of most of them was exceptional.
A second machine embroidery course began from November 2005 with 24 trainees. By the time the course came to an end in June 2006, only three of the trainees had stopped coming to class, a fairly low dropout rate. At the time of writing of this report, four trainees from the first course have bought embroidery machines on their own and at least 10 of them are earning handsomely from their skills.
The trainer for both courses was Md. Selim whose enthusiasm and dedication has been a real asset to FERRY. Sri Selim has also proposed the setting up of a Machine Embroidery Production Unit, along the lines of the Machine Knitting Production Unit. The concept of the production unit (where trainees can come and work on machines bought by FERRY) is particularly relevant for the embroidery course because of the high cost of the machines (approximately Rs 7,500) which makes it difficult for individual trainees to buy them. FERRY will begin this process as possible, targeting the local markets in and around Rampurhat, and, quite possibly Bolpur where Sri Salim has contacts. Three new machines, to be bought for the purpose, will serve the production unit, while the three old ones will be used for training.
In this connection, we would like to note that more than 100 applications have already been submitted, unsolicited, to FERRY’s Rampurhat office for future courses in machine embroidery.
4. Advanced Machine Knitting: A month-long advanced machine knitting course focusing on woollen frocks (for children) and blouses (for women) made to specifications provided by the Konnagar wholesale market, was held for 18 trainees right through September 2005. The trainer for the course was Smt. Kabita Mandal.
5. Auto-Electric and Inverter Maintenance and Repair: This course, which began in January 2005 with 20 trainees and Sri Suresh Chandra Das as the trainer, came to an end in December 2005. Fifteen trainees completed the course and all of them performed creditably in the final examination. Several of them are currently employed in their profession—with as many as five having set up their own workshops—and most of the others are on the lookout for opportunities and funds, which they need to start their own enterprises.
6. Follow up of previous courses: The machine knitting production unit is working smoothly, with 17 former trainees supplying woollen blouses to the Konnagar wholesale market. They would soon start supplying frocks.
FERRY would also like to report that all the 11 trainees who did the carpentry course in 2003 have stuck to their profession and are earning well. The recent boom in the construction business in Rampurhat, where they are employed to make doors and windows, and sometimes, furniture, has helped and FERRY will conduct another carpentry course in 2006-07.


KHANYAN PROJECT (formerly Sikhira Project)

The year under review has been a significant one for FERRY as far as its activities in Hooghly district are concerned. Previous readers of FERRY’s annual reports will note that the name of the project site has changed from Sikhira Project to Khanyan Project. As was mentioned in last year’s annual report, there had been some differences of opinion and misunderstanding between FERRY and some of the members of Bandhab Samiti, the club on whose premises FERRY’s previous courses had been conducted. Despite sincere efforts on part of FERRY, the misunderstanding could not be resolved and in April 2005, FERRY shifted its office to a rented accommodation on the Grand Trunk Road in Khanyan, about a 10 minutes’ walk from the Khanyan railway station. In many ways, this has been a beneficial move for FERRY. Due to the project site’s location on the G.T. Road and proximity to the railway station, it has become much more accessible to trainees. We are also getting applications from trainees from a much wider radius than we did at Sikhira.
From April to October 2006, FERRY operated from a single classroom at its new project site. The addition of a new room on the first floor by the landlord meant that we were able to rent two rooms from November 2006. This has led to a more efficient utilisation of our time and resources. FERRY must record here its grateful thanks and appreciation for the continuing support and encouragement from its new project partner, the Canada India Village Aid (CIVA), which funds all of FERRY’s activities in Khanyan.

1. Manufacture of Jute Handicrafts: This seven-month course commenced in June 2006 with 23 trainees and with Smt. Swapna Bhowmick as trainer.
2. Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments: This seven-month course began in December 2005 with 30 trainees. The trainers for the course were Smt. Usharani Mukherjee and Smt. Anjali Mukherjee.
3. Comprehensive Tailoring: This one-year course began in February 2005 with 20 trainees and with Sk. Ashraf Ali as trainer. However, the course had to be extended by two months in order to do full justice to the syllabus of the course. Sixteen candidates completed the course.
4. Repair of Electronic Goods: This course, which began in July 2004 with 11 trainees and with Sri Nandalal Ghosh as trainer, came to an end in May 2005, with 10 trainees being given certificates. It may be mentioned here that Sri Debdas Bhandari of the George Telegraph Training Institute acted as external resource person for the course.


BAIDYAPUR PROJECT
FERRY continues to maintain a partial presence at its Baidyapur project site, where a course in Repair and Maintenance of Two-Wheelers is currently under way. FERRY was encouraged to start this course after local surveys revealed a considerable demand for such a course. It may be recalled here that an earlier such course in Baidyapur had been one of the most notable successes of the Baidyapur project site. This ten-month course, funded by CIVA, began in February 2006 with 20 trainees and Sri Ratan Ghosh as trainer.
FERRY is also happy to report that six trainees from its Electricians’ Training Course, held between March and September 2003, have passed the examinations conducted by the Department of Electricity, Government of West Bengal and are now officially accredited government-licensed electrical contractors. This is the first time in FERRY’s history that a course conducted by FERRY has enabled its trainees to obtain government certification.
FERRY will take a decision on the future of its Baidyapur project site after the completion of the current course in November 2006.

PROJECTS FOR 2006-07

FERRY intends to conduct the following courses during 2006-07:

Rampurhat: (i) Machine Embroidery, third course
(ii) Carpentry
(iii) Machine Knitting
(iv) Preparation for Ayah Training Course in 2007-08
Khanyan: (i) To be decided

During the year under review, the Executive Committee of FERRYmet on four occasions. The Executive Committee for the term 2005-07, elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2005, was as follows:

President: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee
Vice-President: Sri Prafulla Chakrabarty
Treasurer: Sri Sougata Ghosh
Executive Secretary: Sri Abhijit Gupta
Secretaries: Sri Madhusudan Banerjee
Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
Members: Smt Sunanda Das
Smt Agamani Gupta
Sri Ambarnath Ghosh
Sri Samantak Das
Sri Aritro Ganguly

Following the resignation of Sri Ganguly, Smt Bipasha Dasgupta was co-opted into the Executive Committee.

As on 31 March 2006, the total membership of FERRY stood at 77, inclusive of 2 honorary members, 4 life members, 20 general members and 51 associate members.

FERRY would like to thank Messrs. Gupta & Mitra, Chartered Accountants and Auditors, Windsor House, 29 R.N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700 001 and all its partners, patrons, resource persons and well-wishers for their continuing faith in and enthusiastic support for FERRY and all it stands for.

For and on behalf of the Executive Committee

8 July 2006 Kashinath Mukherjee
16, Central Park President
Kolkata 700 032 FERRY



LIST OF GENERAL DONORS

1. Alok L. Chatterjee
2. Amal Mukhopadhyay
3. Ambarnath Ghosh
4. Asmita Basu
5. Bijan Kumar Mukherjee
6. Cyril Arijit Ghosh
7. Deb Kumar Chakraborty
8. Kashinath Mukherjee
9. Gertrude and Nitaidas Banerjee
10. Keka Majumdar
11. Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti
12. Radhamadhab Saha
13. Ramendralal Roy
14. Rita Chowdhury
15. Sukumar Singha Chowdhury
16. Tansen Sen

MEMBERS OF THE FOUNDATION

Honorary Members
1. Inge Boie
2. Sanat Kumar Mukherjee

Life Members
1. Chitra Ghosh
2. Prabir Kumar Basu
3. Subimal Ghosh
4. Sunil Guha

General Members
1. Abhijit Gupta
2. Achintya Kumar Pal (Kalanabagram)
3. Agamani Gupta
4. Ambarnath Ghosh
5. Aritro Ganguly
6. Atuk Bhutia
7. Benukar Mitra (Baidyapur)
8. Bipasha Dasgupta
9. Kashinath Mukherjee
10. Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh (Baidyapur)
11. Madhab Prasad Ganguly (Sikhira)
12. Madhusudan Banerjee (Rampurhat)
13. Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
14. Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti
15. Rita Nandy (Baidyapur)
16. Samantak Das
17. Saugata Ghosh
18. Sritama Halder
19. Sunanda Das
20. Suvo Ghosh


Associate Members
1. Aishwarya Iyer
2. Amalendu Bhadra
3. Anindita Ghosh
4. Ankita Mukherjee
5. Arnab Bagchi
6. Arundhati Ghosh
7. Asish Kumar Lahiri
8. Balaka Karmakar
9. Bhavani Sundararajan
10. Chandrima Bhattacharya
11. Chumki Adhikary (Rampurhat)
12. Cyril Arijit Ghosh
13. Debanjan Chakrabarti
14. Dhirendranath Banerjee (Rampurhat)
15. Dipanjan Ghosh
16. Dipankar Baidya
17. Diyasree Chattopadhyay
18. Farida Begam (Rampurhat)
19. Gita Banerjee
20. Gouriprasad Ghosh
21. Iman Mukherji
22. Jhuma Basak
23. Kartik Chowdhury (Rampurhat)
24. Krishna Datta
25. Krishna Dutta (Rampurhat)
26. Krishna Mukherjee
27. Moumita Sen
28. Naba Gouranga Das (Rampurhat)
29. Nisha Mukherjee
30. Nitay Chatterjee (Rampurhat)
31. Partha Pratim Gupta
32. Posuhali Bhadury
33. Rajyadhar Ghosh (Rampurhat)
34. Rimi B. Chatterjee
35. Rosanne Dasgupta
36. Roshni Sen
37. Sadhan Chatterjee (Rampurhat)
38. Samir Halder (Konnagar)
39. Sandeep Banejee
40. Sayandeb Chowdhurya
41. Shatarupa Semgupt
42. Shyamal Bhattacharjee (Rampurhat)
43. Shelley Datta
44. Sobita Mondal (Rampurhat)
45. Somnath Banerjee
46. Soumik Dutta
47. Sumita Goswami
48. Tapashi Raychowdhuri
49. Tathagata Datta
50. Tinku Pal (Sikhira)
51. Trinankur Banerjee

DIG

The Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft (Indo-German Society) is a private society of people based in Germany with branches in almost every major German city. It exists to promote cultural exchange programmes with India and FERRY is one of the NGOs in India it supports. The funds it collects are entirely the individual contributions of its members. Members of the society have taken a concerned and personal interest in our work, and we have benefited enormously from their help, advice and encouragement. The President of the Wuppertal branch, Mr Barendra Kumar Mallick, who is originally from Kalna near Baidyapur, is presently the DIG member who is most actively involved in FERRY's projects. Earlier this role had been played by Frau Inge Boie, who tirelessly supported FERRY and raised funds for it during the first decade of its existence.

Baidyapur

BAIDYAPUR
Nearest rail station: Boichi
Year of establishment: 1995
Centre in charge: Sri Lakshmikanta Ghosh
Local partner: Bratachari Kendriya Nayak Mandali
Overseas partners: Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft (till 2004)
Canada India Village Aid (from 2005)
Courses: Mushroom Cultivation; Repair of TV sets, Cassette Players and Radios; Poultry; Catfish Rearing; Machine Knitting; Tailoring and Sewing; Quail Farming; Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance; Machine Embroidery; Electrician Trainig

Situated on the border of Bardhaman district with Hooghly, Baidyapur is reached by a short train journey to Boichi, followed by a rather arduous trip by bus or auto to our project site. The area's main crops are potatoes and rice. Near our project site there is to be seen a quite splendid wooden rath, seen below, which now has a tin covering that it badly needed and is no longer to be seen as in the photograph. During the Chariot festival in the monsoon season it is uncovered and dragged a little way and then back as part of the festivities.


Baidyapur currently has our only functioning rooftop poultry, for which space has been donated by our local project partner. The poultry at Kalanabagram has become derelict since we suspended operations there, while the one at Rampurhat is too close to the main rail line. At Baidyapur we are at present raising quails for the table in our poultry. this promises to be an exciting new area of enterprise for local people. We also have here our Catfish Rearing Tank, situated in the courtyard of the house of our Centre-in-charge's brother, who very kindly gave us space to construct it and access to water.

A local notable involved in FERRY work is Mr Benukar Mitra, a retired headmaster who has kindly let us use part of the school premises as our office. Mrs Rita Nandi also works actively for FERRY, co-ordinating our Machine Knitting and Tailoring and Sewing courses, which are regular features. Baidyapur is also the only major project site where we receive support for infrastructural expenses, from our overseas partner, the DIG of Germany. Another institution that has helped us here is the George Telegraph Institute of Calcutta, which gave unstinted assistance in creating and implementing the extremely successful course in Repair of TVs, Radios and Cassette Players held here in 2000. In November 2000 we also ran a Tailoring and Sewing Course for hearing impaired students; the trainer for this course was Sri Rajesh Nandi.

The Quail Farming course is running at present.There is an appreciable local demand for quails' eggs and meat, which our trainees should be able to take advantage of. The first Advanced Tailoring and Machine Embroidery course was held in February 2002 for those who wished to enhance their machine-sewing and garment-cutting skills. The trainers were Sri Rajesh Nandi and Sheikh Hasnat Ali. A course in Repair and Maintenance of Two Wheelers began here at the same time under Sri Ratan Ghosh.

Borshul

Project site: Borsul
Nearest rail station: Shaktigarh
Year of establishment: 1996
Year of closure: 2000
Courses: Letterpress and Hand Composing

Centre in charge: Sri Achintya Kumar Pal
Overseas partner: Deutsch Indische Gesellschaft

Borsul is a brisk cycle ride from Kalanabagram, and our former centre-in-charge Sri Achintya Pal and his wife Purnima would travel there from Kalanabagram to run the press every day. Though the training imparted there has always been of the highest quality and our trainees have never had difficulty getting jobs, the press itself has become a severe drain on our resources. Running a press at the best of times is a difficult business, and it was originally intended that the press should be self supporting.

Sadly, this has never been the case. FERRY and the DIG have had to subsidize the press to the tune of Rs 3-4,000 per month. This was a heavy burden on us, and in view of the government's offering similar courses at the local training centre, we decided the money could be better used elsewhere.We concluded our last letterpress course at the end of 1999, and are now in the process of shutting down the enterprise.
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Kalanabagram

Kalanabagram is reached by rickshaw or a brisk walk among rice fields and irrigation channels. Our former partner there, Shiksha Niketan, was set up just before Independence by a group of freedom fighters as a model community dedicated to providing basic education to rural people. They very generously allowed us to rent premises on their sprawling, leafy campus and in 1984 FERRY established there its first Model Poultry.


The idea behind this step was to demonstrate in Bardhaman to people’s satisfaction that poultry-keeping was commercially rewarding, as there was a prevailing notion that this was a loss-making line of work. This was mainly due to unscientific running of poultries and unhelpful advice from various governmental authorities promoting poultry-keeping.

FERRY determined that to sustain a family a poultry must have at least 800 layer birds and a capital outlay at least double what the government recommended. We then set up a model poultry that would fit the bill—it was a success from the start and local interest was enormous. FERRY then began imparting training in six-week courses to interested people. In a couple of years there were almost a hundred poultries of varying sizes producing both meat and eggs in the area. Once the business became popular in the area FERRY with the sponsorship of ITC Ltd also set up a Veterinary Dispensary and Pathological Lab for the use of the local farmers.
In 1988 FERRY held an Entrepreneurship Development Programme at Kalanabagram with the aid of the Bengali daily Aajkaal. A counselling centre was set up at Shiksha Niketan to advise entrepreneurs in the area. The following year, finding that operations were promising to get bigger, FERRY leased a large shed from Shiksha Niketan and installed a Printing Press there to train press machine-men and hand compositors in Bengali composing. The Indo-German Society (Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft eV) supported this project financially.

In the next two years FERRY ran courses in Spray Painting, in Carpentry and in Autorickshaw Driving. We also acquired plant to train people in Box, Packet and Envelope Making, but this training never took off in a big way. One idea which we tried early on was the Commercial Use of Water Hyacinths. In 1995 we conducted a year-long Carpentry Training Course at Kalanabagram. This marked the end of a phase, for FERRY felt the need to retrench, and gave up the lease on the shed at Shiksha Niketan, suspending activity at the site. The printing press was shifted to Borsul. We returned to Kalanabagram in 1998, but the venture was not a success and we decided to make our withdrawal permanent.

ANNUAL REPORT 2003

ANNUAL REPORT 2002-03
The year under review sees FERRY in the twentieth year of its activities for the uplift of the underprivileged youth of rural Bengal. During these two decades, FERRY has worked without a break, providing vocational training to hundreds of young women and men in four districts of rural Bengal. This has been made possible by a large number of volunteers, both young and old, who have worked for FERRY in varying capacities, and for varying periods of times, as well as by the invaluable support and encouragement of our overseas friends and partners. Almost none of the original team which founded FERRY is with us, but its work has been carried on by a new generation of workers who have tried to remain faithful and committed to the ideals of the organization. This annual report, therefore, apart from being a record of FERRY’s activities in the last financial year, also remembers those who made FERRY the organization it is today.
On the 25th of May, 2003, FERRY lost Sadhana Bhattacharya, an Honorary Member of the foundation, and a figure of inspiration for all FERRY members. Sadhana Bhattacharya, widow of the late Bijaykumar Bhattacharya, was one of the founding members of Siksha-Niketan, and had toiled ceaselessly in the fields of village upliftment and basic education for the rural poor at Kalanabagram, Barddhaman, for over half a century. Although she received many awards and honours for her work among the villagers of West Bengal, she will be remembered by all members of FERRY as a simple,
straightforward, and ever-smiling figure - ever ready to help, aid and advise FERRY in its
endeavours to serve the rural youth of this state. She was instrumental in the setting up of FERRY's project site at Kalanabagram and even after the foundation shifted its area of operations, she was always ready to help in its work. She had been keeping indifferent health for the last few years and her passing away is a great loss not just to FERRY and its members, with many of whom she had close personal relations stretching back over decades, but with the larger community of social workers and volunteers in West Bengal. She will be missed by all of us.

As always, FERRY’s efforts on behalf of the underprivileged youth of rural West Bengal would not have been possible without the active participation of FERRY’s project partner, the DEUTSCH-INDISCHE GESELLSCHAFT e.V., Germany, in particular Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick, President, DIG, Wuppertal, who made his annual visit to FERRY’s project sites in March 2003.


RAMPURHAT PROJECT

As reported in last year’s annual report, FERRY’s new project site at Sripahala, Rampurhat—the Sibabrata Ghosh Vocational Training Institute—had been formally inaugurated on 1 December 2001. However, some further additions and alterations still needed to be made to the structure at that stage. This was done during the year under review, from funds made available for this purpose by the DIG, e.V. The works carried out during the year included completion of the building’s staircase, construction of attic and toilet, finishing of walls and floors on the first floor, installation of doors and windows, painting of building, construction of shallow tank adjacent and a fenced area adjacent to the building (for ducks), installing electrical lines, electrical fittings and a meter.
In this connection, FERRY would like to record its gratitude to Sri Shayamal Bhattacharya and Smt. Shipra Bhattacharya and their family members, for their constant cooperation and assistance during the construction of the project site, and their unfailing hospitality to FERRY members visiting the project site.

1. Carpentry course
This nine-month course began on 1 April 2003, with 17 trainees. The chief trainer for this course is Sri Kartik Chaudhury who has been taking classes five days a week. He is being assisted by Sri Prashanta Das who has been taking classes twice a week, with both trainers being present together on one day every week. A notable feature of this course is that classes are being held in the evening, from 6:30-10:30 pm. This is the first time that a FERRY course is being held after hours. This has not only maximised the training capacity of the project site but has also enabled those in part-time employment to receive training.

2. Rearing of Khaki Campbell Geese
A second batch of 30 goslings arrived at the project site on 14 March 2003. It may be remembered that FERRY’s previous experience of buying goslings from a private dealer had not been very happy, with all the goslings dying within a very short time. This time the goslings were supplied by a hatchery run by the West Bengal state government at Kariddha, in Birbhum district. Unfortunately, all the goslings died within one month of their arrival, despite round-the-clock care and attention. As a result, it has not been possible to begin the course in the training of Khaki Campbell Geese, despite the interview and selection of trainees in March 2003. The mortalities of two successive batches of Khaki Campbell Geese have been a huge blow to FERRY’s efforts to rear them commercially. However, FERRY remains committed to this project and will be trying to rear a different breed of ducks during the year. At the time of the writing of this report, the member-in-charge of FERRY’s Rampurhat project site, Sri Madhusudan Banerjee, is attending a two-week course on the rearing of Khaki Campbell and other varieties of geese being conducted by the West Bengal state government. It may be pointed out here that this course had been advertised well over a year ago but had not taken place till now.


BAIDYAPUR PROJECT

1. Electrician Training Course
This six-month course began in March 2003 with 24 trainees. The trainers for the course were Sri Asadul Sheikh and Sri Ram Nandy. An external resource person, Sri Dipak Bera, was also appointed who has been visiting the course once every two weeks.

2. Advanced Tailoring and Machine Embroidery
This six-month course, which began in February 2002 with 20 trainees, came to an end in August 2002. Examinations for both courses were held in August but the examiners recommended a re-examination for the Advanced Tailoring component, as it was felt that the trainees had not displayed sufficient expertise. Accordingly, the Advanced Tailoring course was extended for two months and a second examination was held in November 2002, in which 14 trainees appeared. Of them, the performances of 11 were graded while three trainees were given attendance certificates. Since then, FERRY members have been holding regular meetings with the trainees in an attempt to band them into an informal co-operative. Many of the trainees have bought their own sewing machines, while one, Sri Gauranga Ghosh, has bought an embroidery machine.

3. Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance
This eight-month course, which began in February 2002 with 16 trainees, and Sri Ratah Ghosh a trainer, came to an end in October 2002. All but one of the trainees appeared at the examinations held in November 2002. It is a matter of some pride that most of the trainees have since found employment in garages, and at least one, Sri Bikash Khetrapal, has set up his own two-wheeler-repairing garage.


4. Quail Farming
As mentioned in last year’s report, the first batch of quail was reared in November 2001. Since then, four more batches have been raised with varying degrees of success. The high mortalities of the third and fifth batches have to a certain extent negated the success of the first two batches. FERRY has been in constant touch with the West Bengal State Poultry in Azadgarh, Kolkata, which supplies all the quail chicks which FERRY rears, and provides veterinary advice as and when required. FERRY has been trying to identify and solve the problems which caused the mortalities and is hopeful that future batches will be more successful.
The expenses for the above courses, as well as establishment charges for the Baidyapur project site, are borne by the DIG, e.V.



SIKHIRA PROJECT

Machine Embroidery Training Course
This six-month course began in March 2003 with 16 trainees, and Smt. Malati Dutta as trainer. Smt. Dutta had also been the instructor for a Tailoring and Sewing Course conducted previously by FERRY at Sikhira Though the course is yet to be completed, several trainees have already received job offers from local firms and have already begun to execute orders. FERRY would like to record its indebtedness to Smt. Shubashree Basu, whose generous contribution made this course possible.

2. Amin or Land Surveyors’ Training Course
This course in chain-surveying which began in March 2002 with 15 trainees and with Sri Vivekananda Kumar as trainer came to an end in August 2002, with 10 trainees completing the course successfully. Many of the trainees have already begun to receive employment locally.

PROJECTS FOR 2003-04

Though FERRY is still in the process of finalising its proposals for 2003-04, some of the possibilities are:
Baidyapur: (i) Pisciculture in tank
(ii) Quail farming (ongoing)
(iii) Consolidation of previous training programmes
Rampurhat: (i) Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments (2 courses)
(ii) Setting up of Machine Knitting Production Unit
(iii) Advanced Tailoring
(iv) Pumpset repairing
(v) Model duckery (ongoing; no funding to be sought)
Sikhira: (i) Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance
(ii) Advanced Tailoring

During the year under review, the Executive Committee of FERRY met on four occasions. A new Executive Committee for the term 2003-2005 will be elected at this year’s Annual General Meeting.
As on 31 March 2003 the total membership of FERRY stood at 73, inclusive of 2 Honorary Members, 4 Life Members, 20 General Members and 47 Associate Members.
FERRY would like to thank Messrs. GUPTA & MITRA, Chartered Accountants and Auditors, Windsor House, 29 R. N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700 001 and all its partners, patrons, resource persons and well-wishers for their continuing faith in and enthusiastic support for FERRY and all it stands for.

For and on behalf of the Executive Committee


27 July 2003 (Sunanda Das)
16, Central Park President, FERRY
Kolkata 700 032
List of general donors

1. Anurag Bansal
2. Barendra K. Mallik
3. Deepak Bansal
4. Dipti Banerjee
5. Hare Krishna Atta
6. Iftequar Hussain
7. Kabir Zaidi
8. Kashinath Mukherjee
9. Partha Sarathi De
10. Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty
11. S.K. Sengupta
12. Saswata Roy
13. Shubashree Basu
14. Sunanda Das
15. Sunil Kumar Das
16. U. Sengupta
17. Z. Hussain


Members of the Foundation

Honorary Members
1. Inge Boie
2. Sanat Kumar Mukherjee


Life Members
1. Chitra Ghosh
2. Prabir Kumar Basu
3. Subimal Ghosh
4. Sunil Guha


General Members
1. Abhijit Gupta
2. Achintya Kumar Pal
3. Agamani Gupta
4. Ambarnath Ghosh
5. Benukar Mitra
6. Hrishikesh Ghosh
7. Kashinath Mukherjee
8. Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh
9. Madhab Prasad Ganguly
10. Madhusudan Banerjee
11. Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
12. Prahlad Ghosh
13. Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti
14. Rimi B. Chatterjee
15. Rita Nandy
16. Samantak Das
17. Sandeep Banerjee
18. Saugata Ghosh
19. Sunanda Das
20. Suvo Ghosh

Associate Members
1. Anindita Ghosh
2. Anindya Halder
3. Ankita Mukherjee
4. Aritra Ganguly
5. Arpita Chatterjee
6. Arundhati Ghosh
7. Ashoke Kumar Mukherjee
8. Asok Chandra Misra
9. Chandra Sinha
10.Chandrima Bhattacharya
11.Cyril Arijit Ghosh
12.Deba Prasad Choudhury
13.Debanjan Chakrabarti
14.Debasree Mandal
15.Devika Bhowmik
16.Dipankar Baidya
17.Gita Banerjee
18.Gouriprasad Ghosh
19.Hari Shankar Chakraborty
20.Jayanti Mukherjee
21.Jayanti Dutta
22.Jhuma Basak
23.Kalikesab Banerjee
24.Kasturi Basu
25.Krishna Datta
26.Krishna Mukherjee
27.Madhumita Sengupta
28.Md. Harun-or-Rashid
29.Moushumi Bhattacharya
30.Mukul Das
31.Nandita Sanyal
32.Padmini Ray Chaudhury
33.Partha Pratim Gupta
34.Rosanne Dasgupta
35.Roshni Gupta
36.Rudraneil Sengupta
37.Saurav Mandal
38.Sayandeb Chowdhury
39.Shatarupa Sengupta
40.Shelley Datta
41.Sipra Ghosh
42.Somnath Banerjee
43.Sritama Halder
44.Sudarshana Basu
45.Sumita Goswami
46.Susmita Chakrabarti
47.Volker Boie


FERRY’s executive committee for 2003-2005



President Smt. Sunanda Das
Flat 7, Block 16, Regent Park Housing Estate
Kolkata 700 040
( 2471 6462

Vice President Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty
16-2A, Dover Terrace, Kolkata 700 019
+91 33 2475 2734

Executive Secretary Sri Kashinath Mukherjee
A-5/2, Siriti Housing Estate, 1, Raja Rammohun Roy Road
Kolkata 700 041
2406 6758

Treasurer Dr Abhijit Gupta
16 Central Park, Kolkata 700 032
2425 6926; offog@vsnl.com

Secretaries Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
1-A West Row, Park Circus, Kolkata 700 017
2247 3186; myshkin@rediffmail.com

Sri Madhusudan Banerjee
Nischintapur, Siddeshwaritala Para
Rampurhat, Dist. Birbhum
03461-257943

Members Smt Agamani Gupta
16 Central Park, Kolkata 700 032
2425 4223

Sri Samantak Das
Department of English, Visva Bharati University
PO Santiniketan, Birbhum 731 235
03463-256236; kokopeli@sancharnet.in

Sri Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh
Bratachari Kendriya Nayak Mandali
Kalna-2 Branch, PO Baidyapur
Bardhaman 713 122
03454 245602


Sri Ambarnath Ghosh
80/5A Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata 700 025
2474 7654; ambarnath@hotmail.com

Sri Saugata Ghosh
18A, Kabir Road, Kolkata 700 017
2466 2521; saugata_ghosh2000@yahoo.com
geovisit();

ANNUAL REPORT 2005

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC REHABILITATION
OF RURAL YOUTH

TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

ANNUAL REPORT 2004-05

During the year under review, FERRY continued with its programmes at its three project sites in West Bengal, endeavouring to provide vocational training to the rural youth of these areas in order to enable them to take their first steps towards self-sufficiency. This year a particular cause for celebration was provided by the generation of considerable income from local sources. Such local resource mobilization was made possible, in large part, due to the first-ever gathering of FERRY’s former trainees from all its project sites (including Kalanabagram) at Rampurhat in February 2005. This event, titled the “Milon Mela” (literally “meeting fete”), brought together former and present trainees and trainers with members of the extended FERRY family in order to exchange experiences, build bridges of friendship and make plans and preparations for the future. A more detailed account of the mela is given later in this report. Acknowledgement must be made of the untiring efforts of FERRY members without whom such successful local fund-raising would not have been possible.

FERRY would like to formally welcome its new project-partner, Canada-India Village Aid (CIVA), in the pages of this annual review of its activities. CIVA is supporting several projects at Sikhira, details of which are given below. We would like to acknowledge, with gratitude, the visits to our registered office in Kolkata and our Sikhira project site of Sri Essop Mia, Smt. Genise Gill and Smt. Susan Burns of CIVA.

FERRY’s work for the underprivileged youth of rural West Bengal would not have been possible without the continuing support, active encouragement and constructive criticism of its longstanding project-partner, the Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft e.V., Germany. Particular thanks are due to Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick, President of the Wuppertal branch of the DIG e.V., whose regular monitoring of FERRY’s activities and visits to its project sites are a source of encouragement and inspiration for all FERRY members.

RAMPURHAT PROJECT

FERRY’s Rampurhat project site continued to be active during the year under review. The construction of the Sibabrata Ghosh Training Institute is now complete with doors and windows fixed and finishing touches given to the building. An impressive new office has been conjured up on the first floor, complete with a wooden partition, a sliding door, a steel almirah, and other furniture. The other rooms are used as classrooms for the various courses and for the purposes of the Machine Knitting Production Unit. FERRY members on their visits to Rampurhat can also stay on site nowadays.

During the year under review, the DIG, e.V. bore the establishment costs of FERRY's project site at Rampurhat and sponsored all the training programmes, for which, as always, grateful acknowledgement is made here.

This is also an appropriate place to acknowledge the determined efforts of Centre-in-Charge, Sri Madhusudan Banerjee, and Project Assistant, Sri Sukanta Bhattacharya in making the Rampurhat project site the success that it is. Both of them were inexhaustible in the lead up to the "Milon Mela" which could not have been realised without their contribution.

1. The “Milon Mela”

FERRY’s first-ever “Milon Mela” took place at Rampurhat on 19 and 20 February 2005. The idea of this mela, mooted by our President, Smt. Sunanda Das, was received with enthusiasm by FERRY’s members. The intention behind such an event was to bring together as many of FERRY’s former trainees, trainers, course coordinators and others as possible in order to gain from each other's experience before, during and after their association with FERRY. It was felt that the presence of successful former trainees would inspire those who have recently completed their training with FERRY and are only now setting off on the path to making a living for themselves. Contrarily, the failures of some trainees and training programmes can provide valuable lessons on how to overcome or avoid such failures in future.

In addition, FERRY invited several well-known teachers and activists to speak to trainees on various aspects of rural development, entrepreneurship, gender aspects of vocational training and so forth. Above all, it was felt that this mela would prove to be a bridge-building exercise among FERRY’s trainees, most of whom remain isolated from other trainees from different training centres.

Organising such an event required a concerted effort from numerous members and well-wishers of FERRY, especially those living in Rampurhat. Preparations began months before the actual event.

The mela was held under a large shamiana erected next to the Sibabrata Ghosh Vocational Training Centre. There were several stalls under the shamiana, where products made by FERRY’s trainees were on display and sale. These included woollen garments, various items of clothing, wooden furniture and other products, embroidery, inverters (assembled by current students of the course in Auto Electric and Inverter Maintenance & Repair) and a stall offering free repair and servicing of electronic goods. Students from FERRY’s project sites at Sikhira and Baidyapur had also brought their wares for display and sale.

Over a hundred trainees from FERRY’s training sites (including over 40 trainees from Sikhira and Baidyapur) and many other members, guests and well-wishers gathered for the mela.

Guests present at the mela included Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick of the DIG e.V.; Dr. Amit Hazra from Visva-Bharati university who spoke on the history and development of the voluntary sector in India and the possibilities and opportunities provided by the formation of self-help groups; Dr. Barnita Bagchi of the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, who spoke on the gender aspects of development; Smt. Shyamali Khastigir, well-known artist and activist in social causes, based in Santiniketan, who spoke on the aesthetics of products produced by voluntary organisations and their trainees; Sri Krishnapada Sil, yoga expert from Bolpur who came with a group of his students to speak on various aspects of health and yoga, and hold demonstration of the same.

Dr. Hazra and Dr. Bagchi interacted with trainees during the first two sessions on the first day of the mela. Most unfortunately, a severe hailstorm completely destroyed the shamiana on that very evening!

The most affected were the many trainees of FERRY’s courses at Rampurhat who had put up stalls to sell their products. Also affected were the students of a local school who had volunteered to put up a cultural programme on the occasion. But perhaps the most heartbroken by this turn of events were FERRY’s trainees based at Rampurhat who had written and rehearsed a play on FERRY and its presence and effect on their lives and whose performance had been the most eagerly-awaited event at the mela.

Despite the wrath of nature, however, the spirits of those present were not subdued and even though the mela could not proceed along planned lines, it provided an occasion for introspection, exchange and, most importantly, mirth. The dinner, held under open skies after the destruction of the shamiana, was typical of the never-say-die spirit of FERRY’s trainees and members who had worked unceasingly to make the mela a success.

Mention may also be made here of the various contributions, in cash and kind, made by FERRY’s trainees and members (including the provision of chicken for lunch by Jayanta Bhattacharya, one of FERRY’s former Poultry Keeping Course trainees from Rampurhat), all of which served to reinforce the sense of FERRY as one big family.

A local base of Associate Members and trainees from Rampurhat performed as a well-knit team both before and after the mela to ensure its success. FERRY’s heartfelt thanks go to Sri Shyamal Bhattacharya and all members of his family for not only taking an active part in the preparations for the mela but for providing all kinds of support during the mela itself, including providing shelter to those affected by the hailstorm. It is a matter of pride and cause of hope for the future that younger members, friends and Associate Members of FERRY worked untiringly before, during and after the mela to make it a success. Special mention may be made of Smt. Bhavani Sundararajan, Smt. Bipasha Dasgupta, Smt. Sujasha Bhattacharya, Smt. Sritama Halder, Smt. Suparna Banerjee, Smt. Krishna Dutta, Smt. Purnima Pal, Sri Arnab Bagchi, Sri Aritro Ganguly, Sri Atuk Bhutia, Sri Nitay Chatterjee, Sri Raja Guha, Sri Saugata Ghosh, Sri Tathagata Datta and Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya.

2. The Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments Course

This course, the second of two successive machine knitting courses, began in February 2004 with 28 trainees and ended in June 2004. The trainers for the course were Smt. Sobita Mondol and Smt. Chumki Adhikary; 23 trainees completed the course successfully and all of them are now working in the trade. Most are also part of FERRY's Machine Knitting Production Unit, supplying garments to the wholesale market in Konnagar. To date 18 of the 23 trainees have bought their own machines, an act that demonstrates their desire to continue in this trade.

3. Auto Electric and Inverter Maintenance & Repair Course

This year-long course began in January 2005 with 20 trainees and Sri Suresh Chandra Das as the trainer. The first couple of months saw four trainees dropping out. This is a problem that has cropped up earlier and FERRY recognises the need to minimise dropout rates at its training programmes. Classes for this course take place four days a week, in the afternoon. The course is progressing well, as evinced by the trainees’ display of their skill during the “Milon Mela” where they assembled inverters against orders from local residents.

4. Course in Machine Embroidery

The advertisement for this course saw as many as 70 candidates appearing for the interview in December 2004. In view of such enthusiastic response from the women of Rampurhat it was decided that FERRY would hold two back-to-back courses in machine embroidery at the project site (a similar arrangement had been made with the machine knitting course last year).

The first machine embroidery course began in February 2005 with 21 trainees and Sri Md. Selim as the trainer. Classes are taking place six days a week, during the first half of the day. A second course with 19 trainees will begin soon after the conclusion of this course.

5. Follow-up on earlier courses

(i) Carpentry Course (April – December 2003): 11 trainees successfully completed the course and all of them are continuing in the trade. This impressive lot of young men has already proved to be an asset to FERRY, having helped to make wooden tables for the Machine Knitting Production Unit. Almost all of them took time off their busy schedules to make wooden furniture and other products for the "Milon Mela".

(ii) Model Duckery (functioning from 2003-04): the duckery has had to be temporarily closed in March 2005 with the existing ducks sold off. The ducks were past their prime and were not laying enough eggs. The primary reason for the closure, though, is the continuing problem of procuring chicks, which put off a number of prospective candidates for the duckery course.

FERRY did not suffer any losses over the experiment with ducks though. Costs were recovered through the sale of eggs and ducks.

(iii) Machine Knitting Production Unit (set up in 2003-04): last year's Annual Report noted that 10 former trainees were working at the unit and supplying woollen garments to the wholesale market at Konnagar. That number has now swelled to 25. These women have set up an informal cooperative and regularly come to the unit to work. Many of them have machines at home but come to work at the unit as well to keep up the atmosphere of camaraderie.

BAIDYAPUR PROJECT

During the year under review, FERRY maintained only a skeleton presence at Baidyapur, supported from its own resources. The experiment with nylon-tikka fish ultimately proved futile. Two batches of quail were reared during the year and sold, mainly through the efforts of Sri Abhijit Gupta, in Kolkata. Unfortunately the rooftop poultry was destroyed during a storm in May 2005.

It may be noted here that FERRY may have to take the hard decision to discontinue its activities at Baidyapur, following a thorough review of its potential as a training site during 2005-06.

SIKHIRA PROJECT

The year under review was one of the busiest in the short history of FERRY at Sikhira. The final phase of the Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance course was funded by DIG, e.V. This was followed by a series of courses sponsored by FERRY’s new project-partner, CIVA, who also bore the establishment costs at the project site. CIVA’s funds have enabled FERRY to appoint Sri Bibhas Majhi as Project Assistant, whose presence is essential in view of the increased activity at the project site.

The number of courses running simultaneously meant FERRY has had to procure a rented room at Khanyan. Unfortunately the year also saw a misunderstanding between FERRY and the members of the Bandhab Samity, the club at Sikhira on whose premises FERRY’s courses were being conducted. This resulted in FERRY having to discontinue classes at the club premises. Courses however continue, with a temporary arrangement having been made at Sikhira. FERRY is hopeful that the problems with the Bandhab Samity will be resolved soon and courses can, once again, proceed smoothly at Sikhira.

Many of the courses begun in 2004-05 will spill over to the next financial year. In view of this FERRY has decided against submitting proposals for long-duration courses for 2005-06, focusing instead on capsule courses.

1. Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance Course

The second phase of this course, which commenced in January 2004 with 16 trainees and Sk. Nazimuddin as trainer, came to an end this year. The examinations were conducted in January 2005. Twelve trainees appeared for the examination and their performance was very satisfying. Sri Nazimuddin has proved to be an inspirational teacher and under his tutelage the trainees had been providing free repair and servicing to local two-wheeler owners during their training period. Nine of the 12 trainees are already working in the trade.

2. Machine Embroidery Course

This course ran for 6 months from July 2004 to January 2005 with 17 trainees, 15 of whom successfully completed the course. The trainer for the course was Sk. Naimul Alam. Most of the trainees have set up their own embroidery units after completing the course.

3. Repair of Electronics Goods Course

This ten-month course, its duration extended by a month, commenced in July 2004 with 11 trainees, Sri Nandalal Ghosh as trainer, and Sri Debdas Bhandari of the George Telegraph Training Institute as external expert. Sri Bhandari, who had been the external resource person for FERRY on the two previous occasions when this course was held in Baidyapur and Rampurhat, has been making fortnightly visits to Sikhira, and trainees have benefited immensely from his presence.

4. Comprehensive Tailoring Course

This one-year course began in February 2005. Forty-four candidates appeared for the interview of whom 20 were selected. The trainer for the course is Sk. Ashraf Ali. Classes take place between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., four days a week, at Khanyan.

PROJECTS FOR 2005-06

FERRY intends to conduct the following projects during 2005-06

Rampurhat: (i) Machine Embroidery, second course,

(ii) Advanced Machine Knitting,

(iii) Electronic Appliances Repair and Maintenance

Sikhira: (i) Batik,

(ii) Jute Products,

(iii) Machine Embroidery

During the year under review, the Executive Committee of FERRY met on five occasions. The Executive Committee for the term 2003-05, elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2003, was as follows:

President: Smt. Sunanda Das

Vice President: Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty

Executive Secretary: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee

Treasurer: Dr. Abhijit Gupta

Secretaries: Sri Madhusudan Banerjee

Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya

Members: Smt. Agamani Gupta

Sri Ambarnath Ghosh

Sri Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh

Sri Samantak Das

Sri Saugata Ghosh

A new Executive Committee for the term 2005-07 will be elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2005.

As on 31 March 2005, the total membership of FERRY stood at 78, inclusive of 2 Honorary Members, 4 Life Members, 16 General Members and 56 Associate Members.

FERRY would like to thank Messrs. GUPTA & MITRA, Chartered Accountants and Auditors, Windsor House, 29 R. N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700 001 and all its partners, patrons, resource persons and well-wishers for their continuing faith in and enthusiastic support for FERRY and all it stands for.

For and on behalf of the Executive Committee

31 July 2005 Sunanda Das

16, Central Park President, FERRY

Kolkata 700 032

List of General Donors

1. Aaml Krishna Ghosh

2. AK Chatterjee

3. Amarendra Kumar Ganai

4. Ambarnath Ghosh

5. Amit Kumar Hatial

6. Anindita Ghosh

7. Anirban Mitra

8. Arun Sanyal

9. Arundhati Ghosh

10. Ashok Mustafi

11. Banibrata Mondal

12. Baren K. Mallick

13. Basudev Thakur

14. Bhagabat Das Gupta

15. Bibekananda Deb

16. Bimal Gati Roy

17. Biswanath Banerjee

18. Buddhajiban Chakrabarti

19. Chandana Chakraborty

20. D.B. Mitra

21. Deviprasad Bandyopadhyay

22. Dileep Kumar Kanjilal

23. Dilip Kumar Paul

24. Genise Gill

25. Gopal Chandra Mandal

26. Gouri Prasad Ghosh

27. Hare Krishna Atta

28. Heemndranath Mukhopadhyay

29. Hiran Kr. Roy

30. Joint Executors to the Estate of Bratindranath Ghosh (deceased)

31. Joint Executors to the Estate of Santanu Ghosh (deceased)

32. Kashinath Mukherjee

33. KC Sen

34. Krishna Dutta

35. Mita Ghosh

36. Nanda Kumar Bhangi

37. Narayan Chandra Biswas

38. Narayan Chandra Saha

39. Nemai Ghosh Chowdhury

40. Nilgrib Deb Roy

41. Nirod Baran Chakraborty

42. Nitay Chatterjee

43. Paritosh Biswas

44. Pradip K. Datta

45. Pradip Kumar Roy

46. Pranab K. Chatterjee

47. Radha Ram Mukhopadhyay

48. Radharani Mukhopadhyay

49. Rajyadhar Ghosh

50. Sachidulal Banerjee

51. Sadhan Kumar Mapa

52. Santanu Kumar Sengupta

53. Saswata Roy

54. Satish Priodarshi

55. Satyendra Narayan Roy Choudhury

56. Shibani Thakur

57. Shital Mazumdar

58. Sivaji Dasgupta

59. Sobhendranath Ghosh

60. Subhashree Basu

61. Susanta Mukhopadhyay

Members of the Foundation

Honorary Members

1. Inge Boie

2. Sanat Kumar Mukherjee

Life Members

1. Chitra Ghosh

2. Prabir Kumar Basu

3. Subimal Ghosh

4. Sunil Guha

General Members

1. Abhijit Gupta

2. Achintya Kumar Pal (Kalanabagram)

3. Agamani Gupta

4. Ambarnath Ghosh

5. Benukar Mitra (Baidyapur)

6. Kashinath Mukherjee

7. Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh (Baidyapur)

8. Madhab Prasad Ganguly (Sikhira)

9. Madhusudan Banerjee (Rampurhat)

10.Nikhilesh Bhattacharya

11.Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti

12.Rita Nandy (Baidyapur)

13.Samantak Das

14.Saugata Ghosh

15.Sunanda Das

16.Suvo Ghosh

Associate Members

1. Anindita Ghosh

2. Ankita Mukherjee

3. Aritro Ganguly

4. Arnab Bagchi

5. Arundhati Ghosh

6. Asish Kumar Lahiri

7. Atuk Bhutia

8. Balaka Karmakar

9. Bhavani Sundararajan

10.Bipasha Dasgupta

11.Chandra Sinha

12.Chandrima Bhattacharya

13.Chumki Adhikary (Rampurhat)

14.Cyril Arijit Ghosh

15.Debanjan Chakrabarti

16.Debasree Mandal

17.Dhirendranath Banerjee (Rampurhat)

18.Dipankar Baidya

19.Farida Begam (Rampurhat)

20.Gita Banerjee

21.Gouriprasad Ghosh

22.Iman Mukherji

23.Jhuma Basak

24.Kartik Chowdhury (Rampurhat)

25.Kasturi Basu

26.Krishna Datta

27.Krishna Dutta (Rampurhat)

28.Krishna Mukherjee

29.Madhumita Sengupta

30.Mitali Bhattacharya

31.Naba Gouranga Das (Rampurhat)

32.Nitay Chatterjee (Rampurhat)

33.Padmini Ray Chaudhury

34.Partha Pratim Gupta

35.Rajyadhar Ghosh (Rampurhat)

36.Rimi B. Chatterjee

37.Rosanne Dasgupta

38.Roshni Sen

39.Rudraneil Sengupta

40.Sadhan Chatterjee (Rampurhat)

41.Samir Halder (Konnagar)

42.Sandeep Banejee

43.Sayandeb Chowdhury

44.Shyamal Bhattacharjee (Rampurhat)

45.Shelley Datta

46.Sobita Mondal (Rampurhat)

47.Somnath Banerjee

48.Soumi Das

49.Sritama Halder

50.Sudarshana Basu

51.Sumita Goswami

52.Sunil Prasanna Roy (Rampurhat)

53.Tapashi Raychowdhuri

54.Tathagata Datta

55.Tinku Pal (Sikhira)

56.Trinankur Banerjee

FERRY's Executive Committee for the term 2005-07

President: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee

A-5/2, Siriti Housing Estate, 1, Raja Rammohun Roy Road

Kolkata 700 041

Vice-President Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty

16-2A, Dover Terrace, Kolkata 700 019

Executive Secretary Sri Abhijit Gupta

16 Central Park, Kolkata 700 032

Treasurer Sri Sougata Ghosh

18A, Kabir Road, Kolkata 700 017

Secretaries Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya

1-A West Row, Park Circus, Kolkata 700 017

Sri Madhusudan Banerjee

Nischintapur, Siddeshwaritala Para, Rampurhat, Dist. Birbhum

Members Smt. Sunanda Das

Flat 7, Block 16, Regent Park Housing Estate

Kolkata 700 040

Smt Agamani Gupta

16 Central Park, Kolkata 700 032

Sri Samantak Das

Flat 7, Block 16, Regent Park Housing Estate

Kolkata 700 040

Sri Ambarnath Ghosh

80/5A Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata 700 025

Sri Aritro Ganguly

20 Ganguly Bagan East Road, Kolkata 700 084

Annual Report 2004

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC REHABILITATION OF RURAL YOUTH

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

ANNUAL REPORT 2003-04

The year under review saw FERRY step into the third decade of its activities for the uplift of the underprivileged youth of rural Bengal. Since its inception, FERRY has worked without a break, albeit not always at the same tempo, in trying to provide appropriate vocational training to young women and men in four districts of rural Bengal. This has been made possible by a large number of volunteers, both young and old, who have worked for FERRY in varying capacities, and for varying periods of times, as well as by the invaluable support and encouragement of our friends and partners, both in India and abroad. Despite the setbacks that FERRY has suffered, and the financial constraints under which it has often worked, it is a matter of some pride for everyone associated with FERRY that such a small non-governmental organisation has been able to work uninterruptedly for such a span of time.
During the year under review, one of the most heartening developments has been the increase in the number of local donors, who have helped put FERRY on a firmer financial footing than it has been for some time. For this, especial thanks are due to Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty, FERRY’s Vice-President, Sri Kashinath Mukherjee, FERRY’s Executive Secretary and Smt. Sunanda Das, FERRY’s President, for their untiring efforts to raise funds from domestic sources. Apart from local donors, FERRY’s work has also attracted the attention of foreign agencies. Canada India Village Aid (CIVA), a Canadian NGO, has expressed interest in funding FERRY projects. After preliminary discussions, CIVA has agreed to fund several projects at FERRY’s Shikhira project site. It may be recalled that FERRY does not accept donations from any individual or organisation unless the individual/ organisation in question agrees with the basic principles and vision that guide FERRY’s work. Since CIVA and FERRY see eye to eye on such matters, it is hoped that this is the beginning of a long-term partnership with our new overseas partner.
This may also be the appropriate place to mention the fact that four FERRY members, Sri Aritro Ganguly, Smt Sritama Halder, Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya, and Sri Abhijit Gupta, participated at the World Social Forum (WSF) held in Mumbai in January 2004. The team interacted with various NGOs and also distributed FERRY literature among the WSF participants.
As always, FERRY’s sincerest and most heartfelt thanks are due to the DEUTSCH-INDISCHE GESELLSCHAFT e.V., Germany, without whose enthusiastic encouragement, active support and constructive criticism FERRY’s efforts on behalf of the underprivileged youth of rural West Bengal would not have borne fruit. Especial thanks are due to Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick, President, DIG, Wuppertal, who made his annual visit to FERRY’s project sites in January 2004. Sri Mallick was accompanied on his visit by Smt Gertrude and Sri Nitai Das Banerjee, members of DIG, Wuppertal, to whom FERRY would like to express gratitude for their support and encouragement.


RAMPURHAT PROJECT

FERRY’s project site at Sriphala, Rampurhat, the Sibabrata Ghosh Vocational Training Institute, formally inaugurated in December 2001, is now humming with activity. Many courses have been and are being conducted there and former trainees visit the site regularly, enabling FERRY to keep track of their progress. For example, we know now that some 10 former trainees of the Electronic Goods Repair and Maintenance Course, which ran from March 2001 to March 2002, are working full-time in their new profession.
Such increased activity has necessitated the appointment of an assistant for Sri Madhusudhan Banerjee, centre in-charge of the project site. Sri Sukanta Bhattacharya was appointed as Project Assistant during the year under review. Thanks are due to the DIG e.V., Germany, for making available the funds for Sri Bhattacharya’s honorarium.
As always, FERRY would like to record its gratitude to Sri Shyamal Bhattacharya and Smt Shipra Bhattacharya for their constant cooperation and assistance in all aspects of FERRY’s work in Rampurhat, and their unfailing hospitality to FERRY members visiting the project site.

1. Carpentry Course
This nine-month course, which began in April 2003, with seventeen trainees, ended in December 2003. The chief trainer for this course was Sri Kartik Chaudhury, who was assisted by Sri Prashanta Das. A notable feature of this course was that classes were held in the evening, from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. This is the first time that a FERRY course was conducted after normal working hours. This not only maximised the training capacity of the project site but also enabled those in part-time employment to receive training.
Of the trainees who started the course, two had to be asked to leave because of their inability to maintain discipline, and four others failed to complete the course. The 11 who completed the course successfully are all working in the carpentry trade, and all of them are earning in the region of Rs. 800 - Rs. 1,200 per month. FERRY’s experiment in conducting a course after working hours can thus be said to have been successful and this suggests that FERRY may conduct similar courses in future.

2. Model Duckery
This project has been dogged by ill-fortune since its very conception. The death of two batches of geese (as reported in earlier Annual Reports) and other setbacks delayed the start of this project inordinately. However, this year we are happy to report that for once our livestock is, well…alive. At long last, the project seems to be taking off, with one batch of goslings having successfully reached maturity and giving eggs at the time of writing. It may be mentioned here that the original project proposal envisaged the raising of Khaki-Campbell geese, but, based on expert advice and FERRY’s own experience, it has now been decided to try and raise a local variety of geese, which is presently being raised successfully by poultry farmers in other parts of the state. The commercial viability or otherwise of this breed will need to be worked out and it is planned that experiments will be carried out in crossbreeding this local variety with the Khaki-Campbell breed in the near future.
Training courses will commence once the commercial aspects of rearing such geese have been properly worked out.

3. Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments (for Women)
As has been reported in previous Annual Reports, this has been one of FERRY’s most successful courses, with a very strong demand from local residents for conducting many such courses. The course started in September 2003 with 24 trainees and came to an end in January 2004, with 23 trainees successfully completing the course. It is heartening to note that of these 23 trainees, 15 are already working, 13 of them on machines they have purchased. The others are sharing machines with their former training-mates. Some are already earning in the region of Rs. 1,000 per month and many are supplying their wares to a wholesaler at Konnagar during the slack months. This ensures that such women have a steady income all the year round.
A second Machine Knitting course commenced in February 2004, with 28 trainees.

4. Machine Knitting Production Unit
As mentioned in last year’s Annual Report, FERRY had planned to set up a Machine Knitting Production Unit, to enable, in particular, those women who do not have machines at home to work against orders, mainly from the wholesale market at Konnagar. The Production Unit was set up during the year under review and 10 women are already working regularly at the unit. The presence of the Production Unit also means that other women can come in to discuss their work and share ideas for new patterns, designs and so on. Former trainers also visit the unit to help the women (their former students) to upgrade their skills. A proposal has been mooted by some of the women who attend the unit regularly that they will pay for an advanced course from their own earnings and FERRY is actively considering their proposal.


BAIDYAPUR PROJECT

The results of FERRY’s detailed follow-up survey, conducted in 2000-01, revealed that FERRY’s work at its Baidyapur project site needed to be consolidated and more stress needed to be laid on generating local resources for courses to be conducted there. Accordingly, FERRY did not ask for funding for new courses for the year 2003-04 from the DIG, e.V., deciding to concentrate instead on consolidating its activities there. The DIG, e,V. bore the establishment costs for FERRY’s project site at Baidyapur during the year under review, though at a much scaled-down level.

1. Electricians’ Training Course
This six-month course, which began in March 2003 with 24 trainees, ended in September 2003. The trainers for the course were Sri Asadul Sheikh and Sri Ram Nandy. An external resource person, Sri Dipak Bera, who visited the site once every two weeks, assisted them. Only 13 trainees completed the course successfully and 11 of them are working in the profession. Of them, nine are preparing to take the examination conducted by the West Bengal State Electricity Board, which, if cleared successfully, will enable them to work as officially accredited government-licensed electrical contractors.

2. Follow-up on earlier courses
Four of the 15 trainees who completed the training course in Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance in October 2002 have set up their own garages and eight others are working full-time in the trade. Of the 14 trainees who completed the Advanced Tailoring and Machine Embroidery course in November 2002, all are working in the trade and efforts are underway to band them into an informal co-operative. Plans are also being made to sell tailored garments produced by these former trainees in Kolkata.

3. Quail Farming and Pisciculture
FERRY's experiments in raising quails, which began in November 2001, seemed to have hit a stumbling block in the recent past. The high mortality of the fourth and fifth batches of quail chicks, as reported in last year's Annual Report, had forced FERRY to delay the rearing of another batch. As a major component of its attempts at consolidating its work at Baidyapur, FERRY decided during the year under review to resume its experiments with quails. Accordingly the rooftop poultry at the project site was repaired, cleaned and disinfected. One batch of quail chicks has been successfully raised in the rooftop poultry at almost zero mortality. Most of the birds have been sold for table consumption in Kolkata and some in Baidyapur. A new batch of quails is being raised at the time of writing.
As reported in last year’s Annual Report, FERRY had hoped to start pisciculture in its tank at Baidyapur. The first batch of nylon-tikka fish is in the process of being reared in the tank.
The cost of these two experiments has been met by FERRY with locally-generated resources.

SIKHIRA PROJECT

1.Machine Embroidery Training Course
This six-month course, which began in March 2003 with 16 trainees, and Smt. Malati Dutta as trainer, ended in August 2003. Twelve trainees completed the course successfully. Several trainees had received job offers from local firms while the course was still underway and, as of date, all 12 of the successful trainees are working in the trade, some of whom are combining embroidery with tailoring.

2. Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance Course
This course commenced in January 2004 with 16 trainees and Sheikh Nazimuddin as trainer. The course, which is running very smoothly, is scheduled to come to an end in December 2004. A shed and a toilet have been constructed with funds provided by the DIG for this project and these will be used for future projects as well.

Funding from the DIG, e.V., who sponsored the two projects reported above, has enabled FERRY to consolidate and increase its activities at this project site and, as has been mentioned earlier, several CIVA-sponsored projects are scheduled at Shikhira for 2004-05.

PROJECTS FOR 2004-05

FERRY intends to conduct the following projects during 2004-05.

Baidyapur: (i) Pisciculture
(ii) Quail farming
(iii) Mushroom cultivation
(iv) Production of tailored garments
(v) Consolidation of previous training programmes

Note: No funding has been sought for these courses, which will be conducted from locally-generated resources.

Rampurhat: (i) Machine Embroidery
(ii) Course in D.C. Motor and Inverter Maintenance & Repair
(iii) Consolidation of Machine Knitting Production Unit (ongoing; no funding sought)
(iv) Model duckery (ongoing; no funding sought)

Sikhira: (i) Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance (final phase)
(ii) Comprehensive Tailoring Course
(iii) Embroidery
(iv) Electronic Appliances Repair and Maintenance

Note: Other than the model duckery, all courses and establishment charges at Rampurhat are paid for by the DIG, e.V. The last three courses at Sikhira, as well as establishment costs for Shikhira, will be borne by CIVA, and the ongoing Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance course will be funded by the DIG, e.V.

During the year under review, the Executive Committee of FERRY met on five occasions. The Executive Committee for the term 2003-2005, elected at the 2003 Annual General Meeting, continues to be as follows:

President: Smt Sunanda Das
Vice President: Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty
Executive Secretary: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee
Treasurer: Dr. Abhijit Gupta
Secretaries: Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
Sri Madhusudan Banerjee
Members: Smt Agamani Gupta
Sri Ambarnath Ghosh
Sri Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh
Sri Saugata Ghosh
Sri Samantak Das

As on 31 March 2004, the total membership of FERRY stood at 83, inclusive of 2 Honorary Members, 4 Life Members, 20 General Members and 57 Associate Members.

FERRY would like to thank Messrs. GUPTA & MITRA, Chartered Accountants and Auditors, Windsor House, 29 R. N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700 001 and all its partners, patrons, resource persons and well-wishers for their continuing faith in and enthusiastic support for FERRY and all it stands for.

For and on behalf of the Executive Committee


11 July 2004 Sunanda Das
16, Central Park President, FERRY
Kolkata 700 032
List of general donors
1.Prof. A.M. Goon
2.Prof. Amita Dutta
3.Arup Ratan Pal
4.Banibrata Mondal
5.B. Majumder
6.Bijoy Kumar Ghosh
7.Dr C.R. Basu
8.Debangana Chattopadhyay
9.Dipti Banerjee
10. Prof. Gouri Prasad Ghosh
11. Hare Krishna Atta
12. Harendranath Biswas
13. Karunamoy Majumdar
14. Kashinath Mukherjee
15. Manik Bal
16. Prof. Manindra Mitra
17. Partha Sarathi De
18. Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty
19. Radha Madhav Saha
20. R. Mondal
21. Santanu Kumar Sengupta
22. Saswata Roy
23. Subhashree Basu
24. Prof. Sudipto Roy Choudhury
25. Sunanda Das





Members of the Foundation

Honorary Members
1. Inge Boie
2. Sanat Kumar Mukherjee

Life Members
1. Chitra Ghosh
2. Prabir Kumar Basu
3. Subimal Ghosh
4. Sunil Guha

General Members
1. Abhijit Gupta
2. Achintya Kumar Pal (Kalanabagram)
3. Agamani Gupta
4. Ambarnath Ghosh
5. Benukar Mitra (Baidyapur)
6. Hrishikesh Ghosh
7. Kashinath Mukherjee
8. Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh (Baidyapur)
9. Madhab Prasad Ganguly (Sikhira)
10. Madhusudan Banerjee (Rampurhat)
11. Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
12. Prahlad Ghosh (Baidyapur)
13. Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti
14. Rimi B. Chatterjee
15. Rita Nandy (Baidyapur)
16. Samantak Das
17. Sandeep Banerjee
18. Saugata Ghosh
19. Sunanda Das
20. Suvo Ghosh

Associate Members
1. Anindita Ghosh
2. Anindya Halder
3. Ankita Mukherjee
4. Aritra Ganguly
5. Arundhati Ghosh
6. Ashoke Kumar Mukherjee
7. Asok Chandra Misra
8. Bhavani Sunderrajan
9. Chandra Sinha
10.Chandrima Bhattacharya
11.Chumki Adhikary (Rampurhat)
12.Cyril Arijit Ghosh
13.Debanjan Chakrabarti
14.Debasree Mandal
15.Dhirendranath Banerjee (Rampurhat)
16.Dipankar Baidya
17.Farida Begam (Rampurhat)
18.Gita Banerjee
19.Gouriprasad Ghosh
20.Iman Mukherji
21.Jayanti Dutta
22.Jhuma Basak
23.Kartik Chowdhury (Rampurhat)
24.Kasturi Basu
25.Krishna Datta
26.Krishna Dutta (Rampurhat)
27.Krishna Mukherjee
28.Madhumita Sengupta
29.Md. Harun-or-Rashid
30.Mitali Bhattacharya
31.Naba Gouranga Das (Rampurhat)
32.Nitay Chatterjee (Rampurhat)
33.Padmini Ray Chaudhury
34.Partha Pratim Gupta
35.Rajyadhar Ghosh (Rampurhat)
36.Rosanne Dasgupta
37.Roshni Gupta
38.Rudraneil Sengupta
39.Sadhan Chatterjee (Rampurhat)
40.Samir Halder (Konnagar)
41.Saurav Mandal
42.Sayandeb Chowdhury
43.Shamal Bhattacharjee (Rampurhat)
44.Shatarupa Sengupta
45.Shelley Datta
46.Sobita Mondal (Rampurhat)
47.Somnath Banerjee
48.Soumi Das
49.Sritama Halder
50.Sudarshana Basu
51.Sumita Goswami
52.Sunil Prasanna Roy (Rampurhat)
53.Susmita Chakrabarti
54.Tapashi Raychowdhuri
55.Tathagata Dutta
56.Tinku Pal (Sikhira)
57.Trinankur Banerjee

About FERRY

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC
REHABILITATION OF RURAL YOUTH

16, CENTRAL PARK

KOLKATA 700 032

INDIA

ABOUT FERRY

FERRY was started in 1983 by a group of 14 individuals with the objective of furthering youth welfare in rural Bengal. From its registered office at 6A Raja Basanta Ray Road in Calcutta, FERRY established project sites in those first years at Kalanabagram in Bardhaman district and Rampurhat in Birbhum. Later it also opened centres at Baidyapur and Borsul, both in Bardhaman district. A new site, Shikhira, opened in October 1999.

FERRY exists to train people. That is, we help unemployed rural youth find means of supporting themselves in their own area, using easily mastered skills which give a quick and reliable financial return. We run short courses that give our trainees all they need to serve the market in a particular capacity and gain an income fast enough to break the cycle of dependency in which they and their families are often trapped.



Most of our courses are open to both men and women, although we do try to give special help to young deserted mothers, widows and other distressed women, as they are a particularly weak group economically. In consultation with the trainer, usually a local person, we carry out market surveys and opinion polls before introducing a new course, employing local youths to distribute, collect and return questionnaires to us. This helps us know the saleability of a skill, the capital required, the needed syllabus and course run-time, and the expected returns for the trainees. In spite of this we have had the occasional non-starter, but we do our best to make sure we waste no one’s time and money.
Once we have researched a course, we raise the money for it. We always raise the complete sum necessary for a course before we start it, so that once it starts the course will be completed.
Our sources of funding are donations, membership fees and sponsorship of particular courses. If a sponsor supports a course, we display their name on a banner at the inauguration of the course, and if they wish we can print their name on application forms, envelopes, report forms, and any other stationery related to the course. Throughout the course and at the conclusion they will receive special reports on our progress.
All our training is absolutely free. We do not pay any stipends to trainees, as early experience showed that this tends to encourage dependency, and may prove more attractive than the prospect of work at the end of the course! We do, however, occasionally pay a travel allowance to trainees coming from distant places to attend. Our input comprises the trainer’s and course coordinator’s honoraria, the rent for the course venue if any, technical backup and other infrastructural inputs. Our centre managers draw up shortlists from applications received, and a panel from the head office goes out before the start of a course to interview and select candidates.
We give first preference to those in dire economic need, keeping in mind the level of education required to successfully undertake the course, and we also try to make sure that the selected candidates are motivated enough and have access to the centre to complete the course, as a dropout means a wasted place which another could have filled. Very often we have to turn people away because of lack of space. We always try to accommodate them in subsequent courses, and this is why we try to run them as regularly as possible. We are also careful not to train too many people at once in the same skill in any one centre, as a glut on the market means everyone’s earnings go down. This is why we need to have a broad spectrum of training to offer.
We always initiate programmes in a rural centre in partnership with a respected, non-political individual or NGO who acts as our introducer and spokesperson to the local people.
Ferry has learnt from experience that growth does not always bring benefits to a voluntary organization. It has always been our aim to make sure that no member of FERRY will ever be dependent on the organization for his or her livelihood. We feel this is necessary in order to transmit the maximum benefit to our trainees, so that the lion’s share of our funding goes directly into training. Hence all our posts are honorary and we have no salary-drawing employees, apart from security guards at some of our project sites. Even our centre coordinators' honoraria are contingent on courses running.
This ensures that up to 80 percent or more of FERRY’s funds go into training, but it also rules out many options for the organization. Although we did once run a training school in Kalanabagram, we usually avoid permanent arrangements, as the lack of salaried posts makes long term property management difficult. But local people's participation is therefore necessary and welcome to us, which we feel is important. Essentially our task is to work productively within these parameters, something that would be quite impossible without the commitment, dedication and generosity of our members and wellwishers.
We have often been asked to take on advocacy or consciousness raising programmes in the past, and have also done so on occasion, but we have found out from experience that what is needed first, before any disadvantaged group or individual can attempt intervention in his or her own life, is a sound economic footing for that life. Without financial security, it is next to impossible for anyone to question or overturn oppressive systems and practices, and it may even be counterproductive to urge him or her to do so. Very often the very people whose consciousness we are 'raising' are themselves acutely aware of the need for this, but feel helpless or even angry in the face of their own powerlessness. This has to change before anything else can change. For someone starting out in life there is nothing worse than the thought that their life stretches before them, empty of promise and opportunity, with nothing to turn to except perhaps crime or substance abuse. Such people come to the cities in the hope of bettering themselves, only to be caught in the throes of a system that is dying from its burdens and cannot support them. They trade in the familiarity of their homes and their positions in the villages and towns where they grew up, for a dream that rarely lives up to its promises. We do not believe it has to be like that, for of the more than one thousand people we have trained so far, almost none were subsequently obliged to leave their hometowns out of economic necessity, about 60 to 70 percent became economically independent, and more were able to contribute to household income.
We need to uphold people’s trust in us by continuing our projects. We have waiting lists for many future projects, and we do not wish to disappoint those who look to us for help. Ultimately, it is our donors who bring hope into our trainees’ lives, and we are only able to continue our work because of them. Many have come forward to assist us, and thanks seem inadequate for all they have done. So please give us your interest, money, time or technical assistance. We and our trainees will appreciate it very deeply.