Sundarban, India

Fighting for an equal world with more solidarity without compromising the uniqueness of people and their community. This is the vision of Partners Zonder Grenzen or PAZ. They are a Belgian non-profit association that cooperates with recognized NGOs in developing countries. PAZ works in the Sundarban in the Bay of Bengal, south of Kolkata. It is a very inaccessible area and one of the poorest regions in India. More than 8 million people live there, spread over 102 islands. PAZ wants to tackle the problem of accessibility and is now developing a qualitative basic health care and medical prevention, as well as basic education that is accessible for everyone.

Last year an AFD project team focused on the digitization of patient registration in the eye hospital, but this year the focus will be on Sustainable development with “Nutrition as life force and medicine”. Malnutrition is one of the major problems in the Sundarban region, especially for children up to 5 years of age. Several initiatives have been and are being taken, mainly by the private sector and by foreign or local NGOs. But there are still no structural, comprehensive or coordinated programs. Often the care is “aftercare”, restorative and / or only symptom-fighting. However, the cause of malnutrition is not addressed: a shortage of nutrition, a too one-sided diet, little or no variety and the hygiene that leaves much to be desired.

The main focus of the project is to make sure that there are facilities that would enable the people of Sunderban to learn about the nutritional and “healing” value that food has and the possibility that food creates employment and sustainability. At the moment the SSDC campus is equipped with a canteen, an eye clinic, a rehabilitation center, a large garden and three ponds on an estate with a building owned by SSDC in Namkhana. This is a great foundation for expansion.

“But how would you do this?”, you might ask.

You and your team would search for a new strategic and financial plan and a manner to change the management of the current facilities. Or perhaps the starting of a shop or restaurant. These are just a few examples of how you could change the community for the better. But rest assured there are also a lot of opportunities for students who do not study economics. Other possibilities to have a positive impact on the Sundarban region are: the (re-)education of the employees. Starting a small livestock, vegetables and fish farming program. the starting of a new cooking and nutritional program for parents. the installation of a new and adapted infrastructure and kitchen installation.These are just some examples because the possibilities for this project are endless.

But the concrete goal of this project is the development of a globally comprehensive program in response to the existing malnutrition and the problem of food safety in Sundarban. On the other hand a model project on autonomous financing and sustainability is also desired. This project has to be an example and encouragement for the entire SSDC project towards less dependency, more independence. In this way, Namkhana can be expanded, based on the following facets:

– nutrition and health
– guidance and training
– globalized approach
– cooperation with all involved, not top-down
– independency and sustainability