Gnana Deepam Sevai Maiyam

GDSM is being supported by Swasti for the HIV/AIDS prevention project, that is being funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Project Avahan III.

Activities of GDSM are as follows:

• Institutional Development: It includes developing Institutional leadership qualities, decision making capacity, fund management, promoting second line leaders, strengthening all the structures of an institution, identifying institutions for fund management and mobilizing funds from various institutions, working with government and non-government departments, completing planned activities and maintaining all records.
• Savings Promotion: It includes promoting savings among economically weaker sections, training the team to mobilize savings and promoting savings account for members and inculcating the saving habit among them.
• Advocacy: This includes identifying volunteers who can provide training on health well-being & condom distribution and medical services for members affected by STDs/HIV/AIDS.
• Availing Government schemes: It includes helping the CBO members in selecting the appropriate candidates for government benefit schemes to the CBO members, providing information on the available government schemes through various media and encouraging individuals to avail the benefits from available schemes.
• Training: The NGO’s staff has received training from Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative (TAI) Voluntary Health Services (VHS), Chennai in areas such as: how to conduct field visits, creating awareness on HIV/AIDS, care for HIV/AIDS patients, training on resource mobilization, roles & responsibility of leaders, vision, mission development training, fund management training, training for forming Self-Help Groups (SHGs), etc.