The Covenant Centre for Development (CCD) was started in 1988 with the intention of working for the betterment of street children in Madurai district of Southern Tamil Nadu. CCD registered as a society in 1989 under registration no: 99/89 of Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. Working with street children gave the organisation, insights into the root causes of this issue.
One of the main reasons was unemployment, which led to migration. It was also found out that it was more of a reaction to external shocks and chronic financial insecurity than a well thought out response. This put more and more children in a desperate position adding to an already overwhelming number of street children in the cities. CCD took measures towards enhancing the livelihood opportunities of rural communities to stem migration from villages.
The first step was to revive traditional systems that insured communities against such insecurity. “Siruvad”, an ageold tradition of savings from household expenses that was gifted by mothers to their daughters at the time of marriage, laid the foundation for the Community Based Financial Institutions (CBFI), known as Mahakalasms. Through the experience of managing these institutions the rural women built their capacities to re-engage in their traditional occupations both skill-based and natural resource-based. Once their subsistence needs were met the women were able to transform these ventures into commercial enterprises.
Today, the organisation works with various communities in over 150 villages in the Madurai, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu. The organisation has especially succeeded in empowering rural women. CCD’s approach was unique in the way of tapping into and reviving the already existing but deteriorating traditional value system. The organisation laid emphasis on
- Encouraging women to manage financial resources for economic security.
- Conserving natural resources through local community for ecological sustainability
and
- Organising communities and enhance their capacities to use traditional skills for