On the 4th of March 2023, the final presentation for the Grassroots Comic was held virtually via Zoom. Students of the 3 centres of SOGG L&I Centres Bong, Chibbo and Pudung participated. Mr. Amrith Basumatari (facilitator) and Ms. Minket Lepcha (Co-facilitator) also joined. GFF Helps India team (Melissa and Nikita) along with Mr. Saom were the moderators for the presentation. A total of 10 groups presented their Grassroots Comic. Mr. Amrith gave feedbacks and comments after each presentation. The topics/issues that the students had chosen were on Pollution, Women Empowerment, Gender Equality and Water Scarcity. The final comic from each group will be made into a booklet. It will also be printed and spread within the village to aware people regarding the issues.

Like every year this year too GFF Helps India celebrated the International Women’s Day on the 8th of March with the Self Help Group members of Bong, Chibbo and Pudung. Melissa visited Bong and Chibbo village while Nikita visited Pudung village. They talked about the history and importance of Women’s Day celebration and had a cake cutting ceremony by the elderly women of the villages. They took saplings of locally grown trees and distributed it to the participants and informed them about the importance of reforestation and environmental degradation. The participants were also told to grow the saplings in the name of their close ones (Women). The participants were happy and shared some of their thoughts during the celebration.

Awareness/ Sensitization programs have been a crucial part of GFF Helps India especially while working for the rural communities of Kalimpong since 2020. The main motive behind these awareness programs is to make the villages aware of the facilities and support that are available for them and their family.

On the 10th of March 2023 an Awareness/ Sensitization program was organized in SOGG Chibbo by Sakhi: One Stop Centre. The resource person was Ms. Deepa. There were 40 women from the Self Help Groups that participated in the awareness program. The program was interactive with lots of questions and answers. The resource person explained about the program and how the people could get help from the program. Along with the awareness, Women’s Day was also celebrated by cutting cake. One Stop Centres (OSC) intends to support women affected by violence, in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace. Women facing physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse, irrespective of age, class, caste, education status, marital status, race and culture will be facilitated with support and redressal. Aggrieved women facing any kind of violence due to attempted sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, honour related crimes, acid attacks or witch-hunting who have reached out or been referred to the OSC will be provided with specialized services.

Reading is important because it develops your mind and gives you excessive knowledge and lessons of life. It helps you understand the world around you better. It keeps your mind active and enhances your creative ability. Reading improves your vocabulary and develops your communication skills. GFF Helps India has been involved in the Mobile Library Project since 2020 in the SOGG L&I Centres and 2022 in Debanjan Share Girls Football Academy.

The 4th visit to Debanjan Share Girls Football Academy was made by Nikita on the 15th of March 2023. There were 15 girls present on that day. The girls had just finished practicing football as their daily routine when they came to their study hall for the Mobile Library session. The girls brought with them their story books and shared what they had read one by one. When they got to know about the new set of books that was sponsored by Ms. Lee Geok Boi, they were excited to read those books. In the next visit a reading session will be conducted by the interns.

On the 14th of March 2023, GFF Helps India Representative, Ms. Nikita Rai and SOGG L&IC, Pudung Coordinator, Mr. Suk Tshering Lepcha attended the seminar on Women’s Day and Women Empowerment by Sakhi: One Stop Centre as guests of honor. The participants were SHG leaders, NGOs and Government officials. The speakers were Government Officials and women from different backgrounds. The One Stop Centre presented about their work and their collaboration with different NGOs including GFF Helps India. They also talked about women empowerment.

On the 17th of March 2023, Nikita visited SOGG Pudung for Mobile Library Project. There were 15 students who were present. She distributed the new set of books and brought back the old ones. She briefed the students about the new books and a fun interactive session was held. On that day she was also bid farewell by the students and staff of the Centre as it was her last visit to the Centre as GFF Helps India Representative.