Improve Children's Health and Development

A GLIMPSE OF NEED PROGRESS ON IMPROVE CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT ID: 1182 Network of Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (NEED) is implementing the project “Improve Children’s Health and Development” in the poverty stricken and very populous states of Uttar Pradesh & Bihar with a holistic mission with the help of Global Giving donors. NEED, the social, economic, political, cultural franchise has been directing its constant efforts in order to upgrade the health condition of the children living there and to generate awareness among the entire households regarding hygiene and sanitation. NEED has generated a visual impact of the sanitation and hygiene regime. Various constraints like Maternal Mortality rate, Infant Mortality rate, and Child infanticide, ill being of the individuals owing to ignorance about leading a healthy life are slowly getting reduced and sorted to a large extent in the regions where NEED is working.

This project comprises of the following strategies in order to improve the health and development of these children, particularly with a focus on girl children, who are often victims of gender discrimination: • Vaccination against Polio, Khasra, BCG & DPT • Action Training for Women Village Health Guides with a focus on children health • Awareness through Wall writing, posters, hand bills (safe drinking water and sanitation practices) on children health issues • Health & Sanitation Campaign at Non Formal Education Centers and Primary Schools promoted by NEED • Reconstruction and repair of hand pumps and wells (beautification work undertaken including plantation) • Health & Sanitation Camps • Construction of Toilets & Bathrooms • Bathroom Construction • Role plays on critical issues of health • Training camps for adolescent girls • Subsidized distribution of safe drinking water kits • Sensitizing campaign on nutrition and balanced diets, promoting back yard kitchen gardening • Distribution of health manuals, including information about HIV/AIDS prevention and consequences of child marriage

The following are modest achievements on this front: • Number of Children Vaccinated against, Polio (9998), DPT (7095), BCG (2858) & Khasra (3458) : Total 23,409 • Number of adolescent girls vaccinated: 9,534 • Medical Check up of children: 2750 • Medical check up of adolescent girls: 1650 • Number of children to benefit from our nutrition campaign: 18,3522 • Number of adolescent girls to benefit from out nutrition campaign: 10,565 • Number of toilets constructed: 566 • Number of bathrooms constructed: 113 • Number of sanitation campaigns: 412 • Number of Health Camps Organized: 150 • Number of safe drinking kits installed: 5,000 • Total number of beneficiaries benefited by health provisions: 70,200 These statistics illustrate the success of the project so far, nonetheless there are still many children within Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who desperately need health services and provisions; NEED endeavors to serve these children through our work but we need your help too! A relatively little amount will go a very long way to improve the health services available to these poor children, which will consequently improve their lives in an incalculable manner.

EDUCATION:

With a particular focus on girls.

Literacy in the area among Women & Men is in the range of from 17 to 30 % & 28 to 55% respectively. Some of the villages are a bit more literate comparatively than most of the villages having very poor literacy percentage particularly among women & children. There are some villages having primary schools but being run by formal structure of system i.e. Govt. Organization operationally these schools are by in large dis-functional in terms of its service approach inputs. While visiting the proposed cluster of villages we could also observe that a large number of children community are being left out, not only on literacy front but also at the same time their basic growth too.

 Illiteracy level among children in the proposed villages is extremely high which further aggravates the future vicious circle of poverty and ignorance. Untold suffering is caused by lack of literacy (numeracy, literacy & functionality) coupled with supersititetion. Children family, particularly the girl child in these villages, remains at home to take care of her siblings or the house generally. Women do not have even the concept that they have a right to educate their blooming children. Even for adult literacy motivation is a major risk.

 Inter-village fragmentation combined with inter-community's lack of sensitivity and social distortions, child communities are again here in languishing state. But as a result of our understanding & interaction with the community from these villages it is worth mentioning here that the entire village community have strong felt desire to begin the development process primarily by way of initiating children educational inputs at every community level which would, in turn, as they further expressed, make the village foundation more and more stronger in time to come.

 Many girls have long been engaged in local crafts. Zardozi and embroidery are great contributors for the illiteracy among the youths. They left schools for learning Zardozi and chiken work. Parents also don't care about their education. Additionally, absence of schools therefore, aggregates their demotivation. The condition of Girls Children in the proposed villages are further worst as there is not even a single school for Girls in these villages. In absence of not having girl’s school, the guardians normally don't send their female child to schools.

 The girl child in these villages also suffers from gender discrimination right from birth. She is unwelcome of the family. It is not considered necessary to educate her while her brothers are sometime felt to be educated. The heavy household’s responsibilities are given to her very early in life. Marriage time is particularly tense for her & her parents due to dowry demands. We are all aware of the dowry death phenomena.

HEALTH NUTRITION

 The health situation in the proposed village’s area is grim. The PHC is quite so far and even physically ill equipped that it becomes inaccessible for the households of women & children. Women & children have slowly been become habituated for pulling on their life in a health vicious circle. Children have completely been away even from proper & timely immunization. A unit of women & child in these villages is so illiterate, superstitious & poor that they hardly pay any attention to the preventive cares of their health. It is here, as result of understanding & interaction from the proposed villages, women of community have started expressing their voices that female & children population have been suffering greatly on account of not having awareness & a sustain means & ways for providing preventing health care. Any psychological commitments to meet the health needs of the villagers are far away for the villagers. Govt. ANMs rarely show their faces to these villages, as they are themselves staying in city areas. The villagers have to go to far city in case of emergency, which becomes capital intensive (i.e. too much Taxing) for them. They also suffer due to lack of proper communication facilities. In the existing system, women & children are suffering most. In absence of not having even minimum level of preventive health delivery approach and inputs, entire community of women & children are in languishing state of their way of life.

 Due to fixed social notions, rigidity of socially ascribed role combined with acute lack of economic resources on sustainable basis, women & girl children eat & rest less. Their responsibilities extend from the early hours of the morning to late at night. Not having proper sensitivity about food & diet leads to malnutrition that brings down the already extremely low health status of the female. Awareness regarding good health habit is severely lacking. Frequent pregnancies further aggravate her poor health. Now a days these women are also taken for abortions, which have its own serious repercussions on the health of mother & child. Due to the persistence of the practice of child marriage the young girl life become unsafe with early pregnancies due to illiteracy, nutritional food & preventing health cares.

 Old practices social evils, taboos and various type of diseases are prevalent in the villages. Diarrhea, Typhoid, Malaria, Jaundice, Anemia etc. are rampart. Date to negligence, ignorance lack of basic medical cum preventing facility infant mortality rate & maternal mortality rate is much higher in the area.

 As interacted from the community of these villages this is a big cause of concern for the women & child of community. This clearly shows that there has been complete absence of even minimum level of health care & check-up both for children & mothers in these villages. We therefore, need to have “Women cum Children Family Health Based Service Delivery Inputs”.

Internalizing the value from organizational strategic interventions i.e. NEED, this updated child driven proposal shall certainly advance the organizations mission’s towards uplifting the educational root of existing drop-out and non-drop out children in an integrated manner by engaging the nos. of SHGs and respective community as a whole. The broader question of what sort of opportunities these children ought to have is rarely considered. The notion of educating children to break with the perceived role may be alive in the cities. However, reflecting the vast rural-urban divide present throughout India, it is never discussed at the rural level. Clearly, until these attitudes are challenged at an institutional level, and opportunities are made available, such conditions will not begin to change.

Realizing the above situations, the work proposed herewith will certainly enhance the recognization and entity of the organization i.e. NEED as this would take us to fulfill the vision and mission that organization has already set for.

• To bring girls and other children in the age group of 5-14 years into the formal school system through running functional Non-Formal Education Center;

• Gradual withdrawal of female children from the labor force.

• Where withdrawal is not possible, provision of vocational skills to working girls;

• Exploring the possibilities of alternative employment for mothers of working girls to supplement the family income after the withdrawal of the girl child from the labor force;

• Creating awareness and sensitizing the community, policy makers, and employers of young girls about the rights of the girl child;

• Increasing the enrolment of girls in the formal schooling system and ensuring that they remain there;

• Locating schools closer to communities;

• Increasing the number of female teachers;

• Exposure with Urban Girls Child Schools and Zoo, Museum, Parks, Historical Monuments i.e. preserving and valuing the sound traditionality of art and culture etc.;

• Lowering costs to parents through provision of scholarships, books, uniforms etc.;

• Providing incentives to parents to send girls to schools, for e.g. giving an insurance policy in the name of the girl child, for every girl sent to school and remaining there till completion, with the policy maturing at a certain age;

• Provision of separate schools for girls and their convenient transportation in case schools are far away from the village and there is some feeling of insecurity;

• Development of relevant curriculum to hold the interest of girls and to make it useful to their lives. Science education for girls is neglected, and it is important to motivate girls to take up science studies;

• Making school timings and holidays flexible to accommodate the agricultural cycle in rural schools;

• Increasing community participation in the management and supervision of schools of girls, principally by sensitizing and empowering women Panchayat members, existing Self Help Groups and representatives of local bodies through training.

• Camping Family Life Education and health cum nutrition camp exclusively for children.

• Integrating the sports, culture, art, music and other skillful inputs into the operation of Non-Formal Children Education.

Approach Wise

Modus of operandi in respect of the proposed action project shall, indeed, be the following as per the details given bellow: • Entry Point cum Rapport Building on daily experiential learning. Focused Training and Action Points combined with daily women & child related health & nutritional tips, low cost balances diet, economic inputs & collective group concern & cooperation get across The We Care Message.

• Group meeting.

• General group discussion.

• One to one conversations.

• Give cases, stories & role plays.

• Wall paintings. • Slide shows.

• Inter group interaction & exposure.

• Inter-departmental conversance at village level.

• Group interest with skill of demand generation & ownership.

• Collective concern & leadership skill for sustaining & its further upscaling.

• Major focus on process of delivery.

• Urge for ownership of learning by the children during the process.

• Teachers as fellow learner/facilitator.

• Emphasis on know-how & know-who?

• Emphasis on practice oriented learning.

• Session flexible and responsive to needs.

• Mistakes as stepping stones to learning.

• Action-learning cum participatory approach.

• Project Report (DOC)