Belgaum Diocesan Social Service Society (BDSSS)

Our Projects

AKAM Camps - Promoting Naturopathy for Holistic Health

Naturopathy, a holistic system of medicine, that harnesses the power of natural remedies to heal the body and maintain health, is gaining traction in India as individuals seek alternative ways to address their health concerns. In alignment with this growing interest, our project collaborated with the National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN) Pune to conduct health camps.

FVTRS - Bridging the Skills Gap for Marginalized Youth

In India, persistent high school dropout rates, limited skill levels, and increasing migration have left rural communities, particularly those belonging to scheduled castes, tribes, and other excluded groups, trapped in a cycle of chronic poverty. The urban landscape presents its own challenges, as the unskilled workforce faces the demanding requirements

Namaskar India - Empowering Underprivileged Students through Education Support

BDSSS firmly believes in the transformative power of education, recognizing it as a potent tool for breaking the cycle of poverty in India. In rural areas, many families struggle to afford the expenses associated with educating their children. To address this critical issue, BDSSS has forged a meaningful partnership with Namaskar India

Samrudi - Empowering Women in Micro Enterprise

BDSSS, in collaboration with Samrudi Rural Upliftment and various financial and banking networks, acknowledges the pivotal role that women play in the rural Indian economy. The Samrudi initiative is dedicated to supporting and empowering women by providing access to credit and essential training, particularly for those at high risk,

Ashraya - A Step towards an AIDS-Free Generation

The Ashraya program is committed to contributing to the realization of an AIDS-free generation. It addresses the social, economic, and emotional consequences of HIV/AIDS on children, their families, and the communities that support them. BDSSS's primary goal is to enhance the health and well-being of children

Saathi

The Saathi project is dedicated to strengthening community resilience in addressing child rights violations across 10 urban slums in the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad, as well as 5 villages in Alnavar taluka within the Dharwad district. Supported by Kindernothilfe e.V, this initiative brings together Community Based

Krishi Samarthya

Belgaum Diocesan Social Service Society (BDSSS) works with its partner Save Indian Farmers (SIF) on this project. The proposed project envisages establishing an ecosystem for small-time farmers to practice agriculture in a chemical and fertilizer free attitude and aptitude adhering to the norms of sustainable agriculture. Our goal is to enable Community Empowerment through sustainable climate adoptive agriculture,

Goonj

In association with Goonj, BDSSS aims to build an equitable relationship of strength, sustenance and dignity between the cities and villages using the under-utilized urban material as a tool to trigger development with dignity, across the country. BDSSS partnered with it recently to reach out to rural families in its work areas. Currently, 950 families have already been supported.

Women Empowerment Program (WEP)

Women Empowerment is a long-standing program of BDSSS, started 20 years ago under the aegis of Karnataka Regional Organisation for Social Service (KROSS), sponsored by Misereor, Germany. The project envisages creating women groups for socio-economic progress. The project promotes safe, secured and sustainable livelihood among

PAUSTIK

PAUSTIK is a women and child development project. It demonstrates sustainable approaches and strategies to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition among vulnerable groups in 45 villages in and around Karadi of Hungund Taluka, Bagalkot district. The project has reduced underweight and under-nutrition among children, low body mass index

Empower communities to foster climate resilient and climate adaptive agriculture and livelihood – Ujjivana

This project envisions community mobilization to strengthen their effort in ensuring adequate and nutritious food and effort for accessing their rights and entitlement and livelihood options through on-farm and off-farm strengthened community-based mechanism.

SPARSHA Cancer Campaign

Caritas India and BDSSS envisaged engaging local communities to identify blockades and prioritize and co-design exhaustive community-based activities to improve cancer-awareness and mitigation through people’s participation. The campaign that started in December 2019 has supported 149 cancer patients from December 2019 until June 2020.

Flood Relief

The unprecedented floods hit the North Western Karnataka in the first week of August last year. The first phase of action planned was visit of the spots in the areas of BDSSS’ operation – Belgaum, Bagalkot and Dharwad districts. These three districts were massively affected. The criteria for selection of beneficiaries were chalked and immediate relief

Building Sustainable Community Resilience to HIV AIDS, thereby mitigating transmission to youth and women and vertical transmission from mother to child

The project addressed the issues related to the spread of the dreaded HIV and AIDS in the target areas of ten Gram Panchayats and 32 villages of Khanapur

Mitigating Challenges posed by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of corona virus (COVID19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARSCoV2). There is no known vaccine or specific antiviral treatment.
BDSSS envisioned community resilience against COVID-19 through the following

Response to Flood Relief – Phase II of the Action

The Phase II of the flood relief operations comprised of shelter refurbishment and livelihood restoration.

Shelter Refurbishment and Reconstruction

26 houses were revamped in Alnavar, Kakkeri, Buranki, Bekwad, Navga, Nandgad, Durganagar, Mansapur, Prabhunagar, Jamboti, Santibastwad and Londa. The cost of the repair of each house varied from Rs.2,67,000, Rs.2,28,000, Rs.1,61,000 to Rs.96,000, Rs.72,000 to Rs.65,000. The project of the repair of the houses was supported by Caritas India, United Way Mumbai, Roman Catholic Diocese of Allahabad, Sophia College Bengaluru, Catholic Sabha Udupi, Sacred Heart School Bengaluru, Diocese of Gulbarga, St Peter’s Seminary Bengaluru, Educational Institutions of the Diocese of Belgaum and Parishes/Missions/Religious of the Diocese of Belgaum. The repairs of the houses were completed on 20 th July 2020.

14 new houses are being constructed in Alnavar, Linganamath, Navaga, Sangargalli, Khanapur, Kakti and Chikkodi. The cost of each house varied from Rs.8,50,000 to Rs. 4,25,000. This project was supported by the Archdiocese of Bangalore [9 houses], Karnataka CRI [3 Houses], Franciscan Sisters of Mary, Karnataka [2], Sponsorship programme Fr Cyril Fernandes, Educational Institutions of the Diocese of Belgaum and Parishes/Missions/Religious of the Diocese of Belgaum. The construction of the new houses is still going on and will be completed by the end of September 2020.

Restoration of Lost Livelihood

41 Livelihoods of Cattle rearing, Tailoring, Petty shop, Vegetables selling, Tender coconut selling, Mechanical garage, Pottery, Fruits selling, Stationery, Bangles selling, Dry fish selling, Poultry farming and Leather shoe making were restored in Alnavar and Khanapur talukas. Each beneficiary received support of Rs.15,000. We remain grateful to Caritas India.

Similarly, 50 livelihoods and 197 refurbishments are underway in Chikkodi, Raibag, Nippani and Hukkeri Talukas. The livelihoods are in the verticals of dairy farming, goat rearing, sewing machines and renewal of petty shops. Each beneficiary under the livelihood vertical received goods worth Rs.30,000. Refurbishment includes – Construction of new Houses, Repair of damaged Houses, Schools, Anganwadis and Primary Health Centers. This project of restoration and refurbishments of houses and public spaces is sponsored by United Way of Bengaluru through Caritas India. This project will be completed by October 2020.

Besides the refurbishment and reconstruction work, BDSSS is also building the capacities of 100 volunteers in Chikkodi in the domain of disaster management. Chikkodi is prone to floods and was majorly devastated in the floods last year. BDSSS remains ever-grateful to its donors, well-wishers and benefactors for their support.