SUPPORT FLOOD-HIT VICTIMS IN VILLAGES OF GUJARAT

Hello Friends,

AWAG is pleased to share the Final Progress Report with regard to SUPPORTING FLOOD-HIT VICTIMS IN VILLAGES OF GUJARAT.

In the wake of the massive floods that hit northern Gujarat in late July this year, two districts of the region – Patan and Banaskantha were declared disaster affected by the revenue department of the State.

The situation in the villages of Banaskantha was far from what could be called normal. After the water receded, there was the incidence of death, the stink of rotting crops and dead cattle, and a sense of loss and fear among people who were left to build their lives from scratch. The locals claim that there are about thirteen villages where no form of government relief had reached yet. Moreover, in many villages, residents did not receive the exact amount of money which was announced by the state government.

It is here that AWAG aimed to run medical camps in these villages where the probability of the spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases was high and hygiene was being compromised. Hence, with the support of generous contributions channelized through GlobalGiving, AWAG conducted the following activities to supporting flood-hit victims in the villages of Banaskantha, Gujarat. 

PHASE 1: AWAG participated in the Medical Camps that were organized by Medical Service Centre in association with Cultural Educational Forum in the flood affected villages of Dhanera block - Banaskantha District of Gujarat from 6 to 10 August 2017. Over the years, as part of their disaster response, AWAG has supported several initiatives towards disaster relief and rehabilitation, most significant, during the earthquake in Kachchh, Gujarat.

 Total Medical Camps held: 11

Total patients covered : 767

During the camps the patients were examined by a doctor and were provided suitable treatment as an immediate measure. Medicines were also provided to the patients.  We found cases of severe skin infections in 70% of patients. Skin infection was a common phenomenon in all the patients whether in adults or children.

Secondly, we found the patients having knee problems. Of course women patients were found to face more of this problem. It may be due to lack of nutritious food. There is a need for intervention activities in nutrition in this area. Moreover, intervention on issues related to women hygiene would be useful as many women complained of white water discharge, burning sensation, itching and so on.

With this, we completed the phase of our medical relief operations.

PHASE 2: Moving ahead with our plan of providing the much needed support, the following activities were undertaken in villages of Patan as well as in village Bismillaganj in Radhanpur- Dist Patan, Gujarat. The criteria of selection of this area were based on its remote location where access by other agencies is negligible.

• An Awareness Raising meeting with regard to gender-based violence was conducted for the village women. This was followed by distribution of plastic rugs/floor mats to them. These rugs are water-resistant, durable and have a multipurpose use for indoors and outdoors requirements. A total of 420 such rugs were distributed to the village women.
• Similarly, an Awareness Raising meeting was held with young girls from the village with regard to menstrual health and personal hygiene. Alongside, sanitary napkins were distributed to a total of 35 youth girls who attended the meeting.
• Supplementary nutrition packets containing Dates were also distributed to the flood-affected victims especially women and children.

PHASE 3:The next step was to extend the above activities to the other 60 villages on a need and priority bases. A total of 120 women participated in the above activities and in addition to the knowledge acquired, they also received plastic rugs/floor mats which are essentially used in their homes.

WE EXTEND OUR GRATITUDE TO ALL THE DONORS WHO ENABLED AWAG TO PURSUE THE MUCH NEEDED SUPPORT TO MEET THE PRESSING DEMAND OF THE SITUATION.

THANK YOU!