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(Making Inroads Into TheCommunity)
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Hum ka kaa sikhahu, ou aaj ki awal
bhai…’ (What will this chit of a girl teach me !)
– When this is the attitude of the mother-in-law towards
the health worker, counselling on reproductive health
is unlikely to flourish. It is this realization that gave
birth to the innovative idea of involving mothers-in-law
through ‘Saas Mandalis’ (mother-in-law groups). Since
many of the mothers-in-law also conduct deliveries in
the family, the strategy that evolved provided for the
community based distribution worker (CBD) in each of these
villages to identify 8-10 such mothers-in-law and hold
regular meetings with them. The CBD equips them with information
on all aspects of reproductive and child health and seeks
their support to gain access to the younger women as well.
Additionally enlightened mothers-in-law ensure that pregnant
women undergo regular check-ups, get immunized and safe
practices are adopted during delivery. This has led to
the ‘Saas ban jaay TBA’ (mother-in-law becomes a trained
birth attendant) movement in these villages.
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his SIFPSA funded project is being
implemented by Dr. Shambhunath Singh Research Foundation
(SRF), an NGO working in 118 villages covering a population
of more than 120,000 of Pindra block in Varanasi district.
The organization made a modest beginning with a small
theatre group made up of concerned citizens, who through
their performances motivated people to form youth groups
and work for their community. The SIFPSA project was an
opportunity for it to focus its activities on reproductive
health and rights of women. |
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A Sound Beginning |
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The project staff established an instant
rapport with the community through entertaining street
plays with messages on reproductive health, enacted by
the supervisors. Women’s groups called ‘paherua’ (guardians)
were then formed in each village by CBD workers who facilitated
regular meetings of these groups, disseminating information
on all aspects of reproductive & child health. A centrally
located building in the village or the sub-centre was
chosen for these meetings and for providing RCH services.
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Effective Communication |
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The project team developed ‘phads’ (colourfully
illustrated cloth scrolls) on various issues, which were
used during meetings to initiate discussion on the issue
of the day. |
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Innovative songs developed on various
topics were used during group meetings to motivate prospective
clients. Catchy slogans on gender equality, health care
and family planning serve as vehicles to generate interest.
The CBD invites a person from the community to start writing
the slogan, and once a small crowd gathers, the slogan
is discussed in all its aspects and its meaning conveyed.
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A Successful Strategy
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This project implemented for three years
initially, showed encouraging results and has been extended
up to March 2002. The new implementation strategy focuses
on making the programme sustainable. |
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Home visits are gradually giving way
to group activity and special emphasis is being laid on
contraceptive social marketing. Self-help groups in villages
now involve women who make monthly contributions to a
corpus to be used for income-generating activities through
loans for the members. |
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‘We strongly believe that only quality
work will have a lasting impact and thus is essential
to make the programme sustainable’ says Ms. Roli Singh,
the dedicated Project Coordinator. |
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| We strongly believe that only
quality work will have a lasting impact and thus
is essential to make the programme sustainable |
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Saas Ban Gayee TBA |
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Nanni
Begum who has three daughters-in-law, learnt to
conduct deliveries from her maternal aunt. The SIFPSA-SRF
project taught her safe delivery under the ‘Saas
Ban Jaay TBA’ (Mother-in-law becomes a trained birth
attendant) programme. She now advocates TT immunization,
regular check-ups by the ANM and the use of five
cleans to all in her traditional muslim community.
‘Gone are the bad days..’ she admits, ‘..when new
borns died due to tetanus and myths & rumours prevailed.
Now there are vaccines to prevent diseases and we
know the importance of cleanliness. The future generation
is safe!’ TBAs like her also strongly advocate use
of spacing family planning methods. As news of her
skills spread, younger women have started coming
to her for advice, often surreptitiously ! .
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Capativating performances
establish a positive
rapport with the audience |
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