Impact

What we did in 2009

Our leadership initiatives:

• Trained 133 young people to work full-time with Restless Development, implementing community based programmes
• Reached 38,000 through addressing community issues
• Formed 114 school clubs around resource centre, leadership and teen issues.

Our sexual and reproductive health measures provided:

• Peer advice on sexual and reproductive health in 38 resource centres
• Separate toilet blocks built for boys and girls
• Sensitisation of over 2000 community members to support young people

And our livelihoods work:

• Assisted over 35,000 students in managing their exams and choosing careers
• Meant 35 volunteers received diploma certificates in Community Initiative and Youth Development from Madras Christian College

The results

• Increase of toilet usage among students from 28% to 90%
• Young people washing hands with soap and water increased from 0.8% to 93%
• Girls drying cloths used for menstruation outdoors increased from 77% to 93%
• 83% of young people in schools discuss sexual and reproductive health with our volunteers
• Ability to recognise and refute myths regarding HIV increased from 31% to 98%
• Refusal of peer pressure on substance abuse rose from 54% to 75%
• All our volunteers from the past two years are now in higher education or employment, or both (far above the national average for their peers)

Megala is a peer educator from Minnal in Thiruvallur District. Volunteering with Restless Development radically changed her position and role in her Self Help Group, with her leadership qualities distinguishing her. After learning about the government schemes for Self Help Groups, Megala spurred her group to apply. After some persistence, they secured a loan of Rs. 300,000 (4,392 GBP) from the government of Tamil Nadu to carry on their good work.  Megala is a role model, demonstrating what an empowered young woman can do for her community.

“We have such a big community of youth but we do very little to reach them. One institute of this size cannot reach the entire nation. …. [Restless Development] works with this important segment of society- the youth. Its methodology of using Peer Educators to address adolescent issues and empowering them with life skills leading to better employability is a significant contribution”

Dr. Gnana Rajasekaran –Director, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs).

"I am so happy with [Restless Development’s] initiative to improve Science, Maths and English in School. As a Director for Non Formal Education I strongly recommend this intervention as it is the need of every Government School. We need to think of innovative and practical ways of helping young students to understand scientific principles and applications [and] to relate it to the world around them. We need to improve greatly the Science temper of students to meet the technological demands of our country and also equip them with technical skills leading to better employability."

Mrs. Chenthamil Selvi T.H, Director, Non- Formal and Adult Education, State of Tamil Nadu.