Background:

Women are generally a little hesitant to handle problems with electricity use at home or office, even in Kerala, where 100% literacy and 100% electrification have become the hall mark. With communication revolution running its round with smart phones in the hands of almost every citizen in our country, in places where a large number of powered devices rule the home front, women are in face-to-face contact with electrical and electronic gadgets – several times every day. Even minor complaints with these devices are attended to by electricians, technicians or wiremen who are too busy and costly to get on the site. If women and especially housewives (in Kerala, a good majority have undergone 12 years of formal education)can attend to these minor problems and with ensure electrical safety,it will help in the overall increase of productivity and well-being inthe society.

With impacts of climate change severely impounding on the people of almost all countries and in particular Kerala, it has become necessary to conserve natural resources including energy resources, and follow a sustainable path to development. Toward this, people are to be sensitised and empowered to act with the right kind of knowledge in an understandable way in the local language. It is still better to demonstrate and give hands-on training for such tasks. However, in a State with the highest population density in India, it will be unviable to reach every home, school and institution by even the largest team of volunteers who are experts in such matters.

The way out will be to train committed women volunteers as Trainers to propagate the message by training more women from different areas with the same knowledge and hands-on exposure. The need is more and urgent in interior areas of the State than in cities and towns. Therefore, Kerala LMAG of IEEE decided to organize a Trainer’s Training programme of two days duration as a model activity that can be replicated by a number of other competent agencies to cover the entire State.

With the expertise and experience as well as the dynamism exhibited by the Kerala Section of IEEE and its LMAG, the course modules, content and tools required were decided by a team of Life Members and with the help of other operational units of IEEE like YPs, PES, WIE etc.

Hosting Organisation:

Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC), Pala Province

Venue:

Jyothi Bhavan, Special School for the Handicapped, Anthinad, Kollappally

Dates: 01- 02 November 2019

Duration: 6 hrs/day x 2 days [09.30 hrs – 16.15 hrs] – in 24 modules of 20, 30 and 60 minutes as appropriate.

No. of Trainees:

17 [School Teachers, Social Workers and CMC Sisters, who have agreed to take the message to the housewives in the district they live.]

LMAG, PES, EMC, VMFT & NGGFn to provide free of cost to Trainees:

Reading materials & Training, Lunch and two mid-session teas, Certificate, Travel cost for outstation trainees limited to Bus fare, 1 LED Bulb assembled by the trainee and 1 Electricity Tester.

Resource Persons:

Life Senior Members – Prof. V K Damodaran, A. G. Hareendralal, Koruthu P  Varughese and A Suhair (not present for Pala), supported by Er. K Madhukrishnan, and Er. A Rajagopalan Achary.

Project Conceived and Documented by:

Prof. V. K. Damodaran

Life Senior Member, IEEE & Course Director, Former Member of LMC

vkd@ieee.org +91 944 778 1515

and

Er. Hareendralal A. G.

Life Senior Member & Chair, LMAG Kerala, IEEE

hareendralal@gmail.com

+91 9633 995 756

Objectives:

1.       Empower women to attend to minor defects in, and mal-operations of, smaller electrical installations at home and in the community.

2.      Provide hands-on training for women, who have no background of formal education in electrical technology, for effective learning and to familiarise with house wiring, protection devices, electric shock prevention, work safety, circuit fundamentals, electrical trouble shooting, and experience in assembling LED bulb and tube light as well as simple circuits.   

Technical knowledge was intended to be built up sequentially in stages and finally got tested through their involvement in hands-on activities.  Thus, IEEE with its motto: “Advancing Technology for Humanity” and its Kerala Section consider it an honour to be able to serve the less fortunate sections of society with relevant technical knowhow. Most of the trainees (10 of 17) were either of Pre-Degree level, or Graduates in social science and history. Among the 7 nuns who attended, one is a young civil engineering graduate, and the others were school teachers or social work core team members or lead persons of the CMC social work initiatives.

Course Modules: