The Avacayam Team travels to all parts of the country and in each city/town organizes an Interactive Orientation to the objectives, purpose and goals of the Avacayam Program. This is followed by a technical training session for those interested in learning the skills required to make the Avacayam products. Usually, master trainers are taught, since some groups of persons with disability may find it difficult to learn the process in just a few hours.
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At the end of the one-day Introductory training, trainees are provided with the necessary material to make the different products. Thereafter the training and/or monitoring team visit every month to cover other aspects of training and/or to monitor the progress made. In addition, after the initial training, the organization or persons attending the sessions are given an option of joining the Avacayam Market Group for a small monthly fee, and the precondition of joining for at least 12 months. The Avacayam market group buys back the end products. This is then sold through our distribution network that we have been built with the support of GSK. The market group was started because we realized that income generation can only happen with a parallel selling market. An individual or a small group of individuals will not be able to sell large volumes consistently.The training program covers aspects like how product is made, how to maintain quality, marketing and sales of product, how to tackle administrative challenges, creating a strong organisation and a sound business. These topics are covered over a period of visits, till it is established that the NGO can continue the program on their own (with or without the market group).Currently Avacayam is in 6 states and 1 union territory (view our map to see locations of our partner NGOs and the rivers we are saving). If we find multiple NGOs interested in a particular city or state then we appoint an Assistant coordinator or State coordinator respectively. The objective is to create a hub in every state which then corresponds directly with the headquarters in Delhi. |
