A hand wash awareness camp was organised on Tuesday with the initiative of Baleswar MP RK Jena in Kalika Gram Panchayat under Jaleswar block. The programme was undertaken as part of generating health awareness among the villagers under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
The session was conducted in an Anganwadi Center and organised by the ASHA and Anganwadi workers of the panchayat. More than 150 women and children participated in the hand washing exercise. Swaniti Initiative, a non-profit organization from New Delhi, coordinated in collaboration with lifebuoy under their ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ campaign.
At least 35 per cent families do not use soap at all while the remaining practise an erratic pattern of soap usage when the SAGY team in Kalika conducted a survey recently, involving more than 100 households.
More than 50 per cent of BPl households surveyed did not use soap and reported significant annual expenditure owing to health related ailments. “It’s more about the mindset and awareness in the rural population with regard to good personal hygiene than just financial constraint. Quite a few families that we surveyed were found using electronic gadgets at home, but paid minimal attention to hygiene and sanitation,” said Subham Chirania from Swaniti.
“In order to reach out to each and every household in Kalika and spread the importance of personal hygiene, we have prepared a comprehensive plan covering all 10 Anganwadi Centers and seven schools of the panchayat,” he said, adding, “The fundamental idea is to educate the women and children of Kalika as their hygiene is highly correlated to multiple other health indicators.”
In the first session in Gahirabandh Anganwadi Center, the ASHA workers and Swaniti representatives explained the participants the importance of cleanliness and sanitation and encouraged them to wash hands with soap every time after visiting toilet and before having a meal.
The ASHAs also demonstrated a 6-step hand wash process before all the participants and the latter washed their hands with soap using the methodology.
The Anganwandi Center was also given two liters of liquid soap and each household got two bars of soap after the session. The same process would be replicated across all other Anganwadi Centers and schools over the course of next two months.
Swaniti is also working to put a monitoring team in place to ensure that the one-time learning session gradually evolves as a natural habit in the tribal panchayat.
“In the journey of Kalika as an Adarsh Gram, I wish to begin this transformation with a Swachh and Swastha Kalika. I congratulate Swaniti for this wonderful initiative and hope that the message will also inspire other panchayats in our district and the State,” said MP Jena.