As the time and tide swivel and wait for none Vijayapuram Social Service Society continues its journey, ever since its inception in 1961, committed to the cause of the poor and the marginalized, whoever leads it and whoever works for it.
As we retreat through the roads of development journey of Vijayapuram
Social Service Society the annals give an account of multifarious interventions
among people for their integral development.
The past years have witnessed paradigm shifts in strategies and
approaches to promote services to the cause of rural development and
empowerment of the powerless and the deprived sections of the community. Began with charity and welfare providing
food, shelter and cloth, the Society has passed through institutional,
developmental and organizational to Participatory and partnership strategies
reading the signs of time and as the faces of poverty change, looking at
ourselves and the poor who occupy the centre-stage of our development concerns
and action. We have contributed
significantly to the people of our operational area through innovative
solutions to poverty, deprivation, discrimination and exclusion by way of
service delivery, awareness raising, social mobilization, training, research
and advocacy. Every step taken during the 50 years has been an expression of
the concern of the Diocese for the poor. Now Vijayapuram Social Service Society
is at a strategic position of strength and credibility to take up any ventures
for the community.
VSSS is presently in the search of maximizing output with low external
input. It is about the technical and
social options open to people in their own respective community. It is about the empowerment of all categories
of the community, male and female, children, youth and elders, who seek to
build their future on the bases of their own knowledge, skills, values, culture
and institutions. VSSS seeks to combine
indigenous and scientific knowledge and to influence policy formulation to
create a conducive environment for the development of the people.
Development is fundamentally an empowering process. We have moved from sympathy to empathy, from
compassion to justice, from an attitude of receiving to positioning on the
basis of rights. But sinister forces are
active with little concerns on ethics or human values. We have to initiate struggle against this
vituperated situation.
We have been witnessing a transition in the 50 year history of VSSS. Now,
I should suggest a new motto for the post jubilee VSSS, service, faith and
excellence. As a Diocesan organization, we are brought together for something
extra ordinary. Each of us is involved in “transforming lives”, i.e. making
possible the aspirations and dreams of thousands of our people. Together, we
will continue to make great things happen.
We look beyond the horizon of the present to that of the future. This is
a time for serious planning for the days ahead. Our development concern should transcend
projects to building fellowships among men and women, which in turn build a
culture of love, equality and freedom.
We had very
serious deliberations during this year on post Jubilee focus of VSSS. We
proposed paradigm shifts in strategies and approaches to promote services to
the cause of rural development and empowerment of the powerless and the
deprived sections of the community who occupy the centre of our development
concerns and action.
The major
shifts proposed were
- From
dependency to self-reliance
- From
beneficiary to benefactor
- From
charity to empowerment
- From
project to process
- From
isolation to community
- From
sense of nothingness to the sense of fullness
- From
Centralization to decentralization
These
positive changes are definitely possible only through hard work and dedication
of all stakeholders, the community Based Organizations, the staff, the Bishop
and priests, the collaborators.
Mr. K. P. John
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