Community GWS (Group Work Station) was a study project on income generation which is being studied in 10 tribal villages.With the 10 year milestone coming up in March next year, since we have broken fresh ground in Anaikatty, we have ventured into a bigger circle of influence impacting the community. ARCC has brought skill education to the dropouts young boys and the young ladies who were too soon married and now housewives, and thus skill trained 700 young people now in about 8 courses in the past 10 years.
The aim of the Community GWS program is two folded:
1. It aims at skill training the villagers and giving them an opportunity to generate income and become entrepreneurs in the long run.
2. It is an self-sustenance initiative for ARCC, where by we get a 10% of the profit generated by them.
We are initiating a study project for 6 months to see if we can lead the communities on the path of a sustainable income generation and also if enough income can be generated to see if the 10% of the profit will lead ARCC on the road to self sustainability and if so what percent?
CGWS handholds the villagers through the business cycle which we call GWS cycle. The concept technically is that we help form groups in villages who are ready to develop one or more products together and who have basic skills for its production. An expert trainer trains them in production. We connect with businesses in the city and take orders, and also invest in new products which we believe has a good market. The logistic team that we have formed out of the tribal people, are trained to procure raw materials, deliver finished goods etc. The marketing team markets the product to the city to different businesses, people, through social media, ecom website and other business networking. The payment is made to the villagers for their share. The profit and Return of investment (ROI) is calculated and the sale amount is used as the capital for the next batch of production.
We have a team of CGWS staff who help administer this process at various levels and villages.
CGWS: Community Income Generation Project: 10 + villages, 15 + products
