(Rivista Internazionale - December 1998: Health Centre Kerala - 3/3)

Kerala. India. Another primary goal is health education for mothers. Below, a doctor of the Medical Centre assisting a patient.

2. Income-Generation Activities
The income generation programme of HOM has evolved out of an important realisation that unless the standard of living of the community is raised or improved, the goal of health promotion cannot be achieved. Therefore another major activity of HOM is to find resources and make them available for income-generating activities. As a first step, HOM established a revolving fund collected from the registration and yearly membership fees of community members. This fund is pooled back to the people as short-term loans to promote income generation activities. The money is to be returned within one year with 6% interest. Furthermore very poor families get a one-off grant to acquire material for starting a small business. In 1998 the following income-generation activities will be sponsored by HOM: bee keeping, tailoring, mat weaving, animal husbandry, poultry, kitchen gardening, small shops, embroidery and packet making for medicines, etc.
3. Sheltering the Homeless
Complementary to the two developmental aspects of the programme, HOM also provides humanitarian assistance for the most needy families in the project areas. Families who have lost their houses through natural disasters or the unemployment of family members or through expenditures for sick family members, etc. suffer enormously. They also participate in the health and nutrition programme and the income generation programme of HOM. However, they also need immediate assistance by providing them shelter. HOM is therefore planning to provide homeless families in the project area with assistance for building or rebuilding their houses.

German Association
Malteser-Hilfsdienst e.V.

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