Project Management for Social Change

Claret Nivas, Barrackpore, West Bengal
Dates :25th to 28th July 2006

Reported By
Fr.Lord Winner cmf

Our missionaries are living in rural India and one of their main concerns is how to initiate development work in their poverty stricken areas. In order to assist them with social tools and to enable them to formulate development projects, a training programme namely Project Management for Social Change was organised by the Mission Procura of the Province of Chennai. The training took place from 25th of July to 28th July 2006 at Claret Nivas, Barrackpore in West Bengal. The participants included 11 from the Province of Chennai, 2 from the Province of Bangalore and Ms.Carolina Carin, a Volunteer from Proclade , Spain who is in India to learn Social Development methods.

The programme began with the Inaugural session animated by Fr.Michael Raj Pandiyan cmf, the North Mission Co-ordinator. Fr.Lord Winner cmf conducted the training sessions. The programme began with the theology of social work inspired by the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est . After analysing Poverty and Development, the various approaches to Social Work were enumerated. The participants took pains to learn the various components of making a Project as well as to link all their projects to the desired social change in their own mission areas. The practical session of the participants preparing projects in groups enabled their confidence to formulate projects in the future.

The group was also privileged to listen directly about the expectations of Funding Agencies from Mr.Jesus Blanco and his team from Proclade Navarra who were on a visit to Kolkata. During the evaluation most participants expressed the view that the programme has inspired them to evolve projects along with the people and to move from the institutional approach to community based approach to social work. With the distribution of certificates, the programme concluded around 5 pm on 28th July 2006.