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Skill Building and Livelihood Training: Enzyme Preparation

December 26, 2017

CFAR held a day-long training workshop on enzyme preparation, with the aim to introduce this as a source of livelihood for economically vulnerable wom
en. The workshop was held in partnership with Miecoft Consultants and Services which aims to buy the product from the network of people who are trained in the process.

Enzymes are processed out of easily availablebio-degradable waste and are widely used in antiseptics, cleansing agents and in agriculture. It is also an eco-friendly solution to recycle waste which otherwise would end up in rivers and streams.

The workshop was held in Delhi with 27 members of Community Management Committees (CMCs) from Janta Jeevan Camp, Kaortiya Camp, IG Camp Ashram and New Sanjay Camp. Facilitated by Malini Rajendra from Miecoft, the workshop aimed at:

• Building an understanding of enzyme preparation and selling as a source of livelihood
• Demonstrating the steps in enzyme preparation
• Enable residents and Miecoft to track the end product
• Strengthening Community forumsthrough allied services

 

Building an understanding of a source of livelihood in enzyme preparation

Ms Malini Rajendra explained that if one household produced 500 gm of vegetable waste, a substantial quantity of waste would be available in a settlement of say, 1000 households. Producing enzymes from this waste could then become a source of livelihood. The good part was that this additional source of income required low investment.

Demonstration of Process of Enzyme Preparation

The process of enzyme preparation was demonstrated at the workshop. They were also informed of precautions they were required to take. Written instructions were also handed out to the participants.

The same process was repeated for different fruit and vegetable peels with other participants in the workshop. Doubts related to specific vegetables and fruits were cleared. Ms Rajendra explained that although enzymes from potato and onion peel and egg shells were in great demand across the world, the process required was different from the one demonstrated at the workshop.

Following a notification from the Government of Odisha to government schools to observe Children’s Day on November 14, 2017, Parents Teacher Associations (PTAs) across the State conducted a variety of activities in their respective schools.

The celebrations commenced with students assembling to pay homage to the nation’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. This was followed by a 15 minute telecast “Mana ra Katha” by the State’s Chief Minister, Shri. Navin Patnaik, in which he asked the children of the State to dream big, develop a scientific temperament, work hard to achieve goals and excel in various fields.

While doing so, the Chief Minister announced a number of measures for schools including a ‘My School’ campaign to connect children to their schools and childhood memories. In this context he mentioned that a corpus fund of Rs100 crore had been constituted and that the State would double the amount any alumnus gave as donation to his/her school.

Moreover, ten students from each block would be given language scholarships for scoring the highest marks in Odia, while the Chief Minister’s Merit Scholarship will be awarded every year to 40,000 meritorious students – 100 students from each block and Municipal Corporation, 50 from each municipality and 20 from each NAC.  Cash awards of Rs 5000/- each will also be given to students who excel in Class X Board examinations and parents and teachers of high scoring Class X students will also be felicitated.

The CFAR Team with support from school teachers, School Management Committees (SMC) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) conducted debates and poetry and essay writing competitions in nine Government Schools – Sikharchandi Primary School, Nilachakra Nagar Project Primary School, Maitree Vihar Primary School, Ekamara Vihar Primary School Khandagiribari Primary School, Kolathia Primary School, Raghunath Nagar Primary School, Satya Nagar Primary School and Gandamunda Primary School. 

In 2013 Parliament had passed the National Food Security Act (NFSA) which ensured food and nutrition security of people as part of the life cycle approach. The Act provided a basket of entitlement for all age group be it children, women or men.

For children in the 3 to 14 years age group provision was made for free meals in Anganwadi Centers and schools under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid Day Meal (MDM) scheme respectively. Section 28 of NFSA-13 also gave people the right to undertake Social Audits,  get information on the actual functioning of the programme and also  ensure transparency and accountability across all schemes covering NFSA-13.

In this context CFAR Bhubaneswar, under the APPI project, conducted a Social Audit exercise from November 9 to 15 , 2017 in six settlements – Harijan Sahi, Ganganagar Palli, Ganganagar Palli A, Ganganagar Hostel Site, Bhimpur Sahi and Kela Sahi- under Ward no 52 with the support of  the Councilor. The aim of the exercise was  to increase transparency in the functioning of ICDS and to provide critical inputs for strengthening  service delivery and taking important decision related to the functioning of Anganwadi Centres.

We also conducted a Public Hearing on November 17, 2017 as a part of the Social Audit process, because it is an effective tool to identify public grievances and find solutions. Mr. Praffula Samal, Minister, WCD, Ms Chandarani Mohanty, Under Secretary, WCD, Mr. Ramakrushna Panda, National Secretary, AITUC, Mr Sridhar Behera, Councilor, Ward No 52 and Mr Hrudaya Ballabh Das, Retired Judge, took active part in the Hearing and gave their decisions after listening to 19 testimonies regarding the gaps in accessing benefits under ICDS through the 6 AWCs in the ward. Their report will be shared with the Commissioner to strengthen accountability of service providers.

The Minister WDC declared that he would like to capacitate the Janch Committee and Mother’s Committee in monitoring AWC and congratulated CFAR for conducting the Social Audit exercise. While doing so he also gave the assurance that all the gaps in the implementation of the ICDS programme would be addressed and sought CFAR’s support in conducting yet another Social Audit exercise after 3 months to see if any difference has been made post this Audit. The Panelists have meanwhile decided to form a state level committee to monitor the quality and quantity of the supplementary nutrition that was being provided and  assess whether the services being delivered were in keeping with the Act.

 

As part of ongoing efforts to increase awareness and sensitize urban communities to the importance of fecal sludge and septage management (FSSM), Centre of Advocacy and Research held a knowledge camp with local councilors, municipal officials and community members of four urban local bodies in Kolkata in December 2017. Consultations had been held earlier with Kolkata Municipal Development Authority (KMDA) regarding fecal sludge management in the four ULBs, viz. Dumdum, South Dumdum, North Dumdum and Baranagar that are located along the Ganges. This had resulted in a proposal and sanction for a Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP).

The knowledge camp was primarily held to discuss the nitty-gritty of the sludge treatment plant and the importance of FSSM in the sanitation value chain. The key speaker at the camp, Dr. Arunabha Majumdar, Professor Emeritus, Jadavpur University explained the design of the integrated septage treatment facility as well as the concept of offsite and on-site excreta treatment and the available technology for constructing various kinds of toilets. Training of masons and monitoring during construction were also some of the prerequisites, he said. Mr. Tapabrata Bhowmik, Executive Engineer of KMDA, also addressed the gathering, describing the technology used in the proposed sludge treatment plant.

Improper discharge of faecal waste can lead to severe health problems in a community. This was underscored by Ms Sujaya Rathi, WSH expert (individual consultant) and NFSSM member. She also shared a documentary film on the successful implementation of the FSSM programme in Devanahalli and discussed the importance of community engagement in such projects.

The question-answer session threw up a number of doubts and suggestions. Mr Somnath Sarkar, CIC, North Dumdum Municipality pointed out that the amount sanctioned was not enough to build twin-pit latrines in the low-lying areas. It was suggested that subsidies could be tailored according to the type of land on which the toilets were to be constructed. Mr. K Sardar, Technical Advisor of Baranagar Municipality suggested that sanction for subsidies should be given only after the technical plan for toilet construction is approved, he said. 

Mr. Goutam Banerjee, Assistant Engineer of Dumdum Municipality said land was scarce and therefore experts needed to specify the size and capacity of the septic tanks built at the household level. He also pointed that the proposed integrated FSTP would cover only a limited area of the ULBs. So, what about the parts that will be excluded from the plan, he asked.

Some of the participants expressed unhappiness over the current state of affairs where insanitary toilets and improper waste disposal seemed to be the norm and the municipality had no power to take action against them. All decisions in this regard were made by the political authorities who did not want to antagonize their vote bank, Mr. K. Sardar said. Mr. Tarak Tiwari, also an official of Baranagar Municipality said orientation workshops should be organized exclusively for political representatives for them to realize the importance of the issue.

It was evident that the participants from the four ULBs realized and appreciated the need for engaging with the local community in implementing of projects like the FSSM. CFAR also took note of Mr. Sardar suggestion that a pool of 10-15 people, technically trained in FSSM should be created and used to disseminate knowledge among others in a wider geographical area.

Moving forward with CFAR’s efforts to bring sharper focus on Fecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM), a training camp was held for thirty masons at Jawahar Nagar and Jhalana Kunda in Jaipur, Rajasthan in December 2017. An integral part of sanitation, FSSM is about strengthening the containment, transportation, emptying, disposal and recycling of human waste. The day-long training, thus, emphasized on the components of the sanitation chain and the role of the participants in it.

The participants were informed on the technical options available for the construction of individual household latrines, with special emphasis on twin pit technology and septic tanks. A group work session was held on what fecal sludge comprised of and the current practices used by masons in the construction of sanitation facilities.

The current sanitation facilities that were being constructed and used were listed by the participants as:

1. Single lined pit pour flush toilet
2. Single unlined pit pour flush toilet
3. Twin pit pour flush toilet
4. Septic tank
5. Toilet with no containment unit and direct discharge into drains

The current practices in FSSM, the importance of well-designed toilets, the impact of poor management of fecal sludge and common mistakes in construction of containment units were discussed at the training session.

A film on twin pit technology was shown to the participants for them to understand the process of construction of twin pit toilets. This was followed by a detailed discussion (with the help of illustrations) on the process of construction as well as the common mistakes made while constructing twin pit toilets.  The standard parameters and the dos and don’ts of constructing septic tanks were also discussed. The link between proper fecal sludge management and adherence to the standard parameters of construction of toilets was emphasized.

Here are some of the responses of the participating masons to questions regarding construction of toilet construction:

Ramdayal: “Maine simota gaon me 72 teen gaddhe wale shauchalaya banaye the jisme ek pit bathroom ke paani ke liye tha”. (I have built 72 toilets with three pits in Simota village of which one pit was for grey water that comes out of the bathroom)

Narayan: “Naale me khulne wale shauchalaya se kuchh fayada nahi hai kyunki mal bahar hi nikalta hain” (No purpose is served by using toilets that are directly connected to an open drain because the feces is discharged into the open environment)

Heeralal: “Agar mal khali karnewala truck bhi mal ko khule me fenkta hai to wo apne pass hi wapas aata hai or use to khuchh fayada bhi nahi hota hain” (If the fecal sludge is discharged in an open area it will serve no purpose).

Lalchand: “Do gaddhon wale sauchalaya me 3.5 feet gahara hota hai jisme mal ka upchar hokar uski khad banti hai. Mere ghar par bhi yahi banaya hai or maine uska gaddha bhi change kar diya hain”(Pits in twin pit toilets are 3.5 feet deep in which feces gets treated and converted into manure. I have also constructed toilets with the same design and recently I also changed its pit).

 Narayan: “Humari jimmedari sabse pahle hai, hum shouchalaya banate hain aur logo ko sahi takneek par guide kar sakte hain” (We have a responsibility because we are the ones who build toilets and we can guide households on the right toilet techniques)

Radha Mohan: “Hum humare sathiyo ko bhi aaj jo training me seekha uski jaankari denge aur aage se yahi do gaddho wale sauchalaya ka nirman karenge” (We will further disseminate the information which we have learnt here and from now on we will insist on constructing twin pit toilets)

The workshop achieved a measure of success as it was able to fulfil its objectives of

• training as many as 30 masons on FSSM and increased the knowledge of masons on available toilet techniques with information on designs and construction standards
•  creating a well-trained peer group that would not only use the techniques discussed at the workshop for construction of toilets but also disseminate the technical information and motivate other masons and communities to adopt safe sanitation techniques in their localities.
• creating greater awareness on FSSM and its ill effects on public health and natural resources.

 

Capacity Building Training on Fecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) for Masons and Community Management Committee was organized in Delhi on December-1-2, 2017.

The workshop was a step towards developing and strengthening a unified community platform to bring together Masons and Community Management Committee members to discuss varied possibilities of implementing FSSM for achieving complete sanitation in a sustainable way. It is an attempt to link behavior change with the right technique of sanitation for a continued and sustained practice.

The main objective of this training was to help Masons and CMC members develop an understanding on FSSM by teaching them right techniques for construction of septic tanks.

These trained masons will become the front line leaders and agents of change and reach out to other for implementing the right techniques of FSSM

 “Though we were in this field for so many years, we were focusing more on the construction rather than the right techniques of construction and the purpose of those techniques, from now on we will ensure to de- sludge septic tanks every three years.” – Girdhari, Mason- Karotiya Camp

“It’s our profession after all. It’s our job to inform the owners if they have no knowledge on the issue.” Ramcharan, Mason

“We will take forward the learning of the workshop to other CMC and male member in the settlements. I learnt and will ensure that the toilet should be constructed ten feet away from the water source. I now know that we cannot construct septic tank or twin pit in both rocky and wet lands”– Mahabiri,CMC member

 “There are not toilets in our settlement, all were broken down by the government. The toilets that are there, are at large distances from the settlement, people finally go in open. Kids end up missing school, the waste from tank goes in drains. We need sewer that will solve our problem“- Kaushalya, Janta Mazdoor Colony

Way Forward:

• Taking the knowledge of technical training to the community
• Adopting soft techniques of reaching out to the community in ways easily understood by them so that the community can engage , be responsible and take accountability for themselves in ensuring FSSM
• Help in converting insanitary toilets to sanitary toilets
• Jointly working out solutions within the existing infrastructure which can be locally applied
• Organize robust feasibility study of the area and decide on the appropriate techniques of area specific FSSM.
• Continuous effort to reach out to Masons, to sensitize and train them the right techniques of construction. Along with this, DUSIB, MCD and the government agencies should recognize and certify trained masons to motivate and strengthen the ongoing effort to enhance FSSM process.

 

A celebratory event was organized today to observe and mark the year-long, collective effort made towards developing strong community engagement and involvement in 13 settlements, aspiring  to become ‘Adarsh Bastis’ with improved access to basic civic and sanitation services.

Organized by the Centre for Advocacy and Research and the Mahila Pragati Manch, senior officials of DUSIB, MCD and Civil Society leaders felicitated 381 representatives of the Community Management Committee (CMC), Peer Educators, Grassroots Communicators and Editorial Team of Wall Newspaper, Sanitation Workers, Caretakers, Male Groups from these Settlements of South, South-West, East and North-East Delhi. They were recognized for the tireless work they put in to improve access to quality sanitation facilities and services at a special event titled, Celebrating the Spirit of We Can Overcome.

“The contribution of the community under the leadership of the women in managing sanitation services is not only path-breaking and the settlements are not ready to be declared as model bastis but have the potential to be scaled up across the JJ clusters.” -Shri S.K. Mahajan, Chief Engineer, DUSIB

“We are willing to support the community management of these services in every possible way including budgetary and logistical support.”- Shri Atique Ahmed, Dy. Commissioner, EDMC- Shahadra (South)

Press Release

Also read report on Consultative Workshop on Transforming JJ Clusters into Adarsh Bastis

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), CFAR and Mahila Pragati Manch signed an MoU to collectively work for the realization of Adarsh Basti following a well-attended Public Hearing in Gram Kheda, Mansarovar Park, in East Delhi, recently.

The settlement has been included in the list of 52 ‘Adarsh Bastis’ of Delhi as identified by the Delhi government for development of these slums with focus on sanitation.

Delhi has 675 slums that have been identified by the government.

The project involved ensuring community toilets are available and are in good condition, creating ‘Shishu Vatikas’ or playing areas for children, proper sewage network, road resurfacing, water supply and adequate lighting on streets.

The MoU has been signed to expedite the services needed to make Gram Kheda a model basti. This MoU has been signed between DUSIB, CFAR and MPM to manage the up-gradation of the sanitation services across 12 ‘Adarsh Bastis’ in east Delhi

The Jury consisted of the Municipal Councilor, Veer Singh Pawar, officials from DUSIB, Narendra Singh, DJB (Delhi Jal Board), B.S Bedi, ASI-EDMC (East Delhi Municipal Corporation), Girish Prakash, AE-EDMC and D.B Sharma representative of RWA-Dilshad Garden

Representatives from Community Management Committee, Adolescent and Youth Group and Male Group deposed. The deponents included, Saroj Bala, RWA member, Tasleem Khan and Nagma.

Aim

The aim of the Public Hearing was to take stock of the progress made to upgrade facilities taken in an earlier Public Hearing held on December 26, 2016, where a minimum plan of action emerged to address the problems raised by the residents of the settlement.

The thrust of this Public Hearing was to develop consensus on the solution that both the community and civic bodies needed to take forward to address the long standing concerns of the settlement. 

The major concerns of the area has been shortage of safe drinking water and unequal installation of taps leaving about 40 houses without any access to water; overflowing and clogged drains which need desilting; faulty gradient resulting in overflow of water onto the pavements and houses alongside; absence of electricity poles and street lights in some lanes making the area unsafe at night.

Lack of waste disposal facilities and irregular attendance of sanitation workers resulting in health problems especially among elderly and children was also raised. The matter of inadequate number of seats in the community toilets, absence of fixed charge for usage and lack of toilet facility at night were the other matters that were taken up.

The Public Hearing gave an opportunity to the community to raise their concerns with the government officials face-to-face.

Saroj Bala, an RWA member, deposed that, “there are no basic civic facilities in this community.”

 “We do not get water from Delhi Jal Board, there is no permanent connection and even the pipeline is disconnected,” she added in her deposition

Responding to the deposition, Narendra Singh, Supervisor DJB, said that they have installed taps in consultation with the residents.

“It would be helpful if the residents cooperated with each other to take care of everyone’s needs. If the space for installing tanks is approved in community plan, I can get it fast tracked as soon as the CMC makes a written request.  If the existing provision of one tanker of drinking water is insufficient please make a written request and we will send one more tanker,” the official added in his response

As part of the Jury, Councilor Veer Singh Pawar responded by stressing that “the Delhi Jal Board Junior Engineer should solve these issues on priority basis.

“If this is not done, I will be compelled to take strict action.”

Taking up the issue of clogged drains, Saroj Bala, deposed that: “Drains have not been cleaned for over six months. They have been so poorly constructed that the water flows back into the homes and mosquitoes breed in it.”

To this, Khajaan Singh, Junior Engineer from DUSIB responded that: “In two months you will see the change and asked the residents to record or contact officials directly if sanitation workers demand money for cleaning drains of lanes.”

Rakesh Kumar Action Engineer, DUSIB added to the official response by stating that the “approval has been given for an iron mesh to cover the big drain and the work will be complete within a week.”

Taking up the matter of security of women and girls while using the community toilets, Nagma, an ASHA worker deposed: “There are some groups of boys loitering around the CTC which discourages the girls and women from using them. Safety and security are a major concern. There are no open toilets at night.”

Khajaan Singh responded by urging the “residents to come together and address this problem collectively and firmly.”

Tasleem Khan, Ex-President of Gram Kheda deposed that: “We are charged every time we use the community toilet. The caretaker at the CTC charge Rs3 per or Rs5 use and this is extremely high for us.”

The DUSIB official, Khajaan Singh, responded that: “If all the users pay Rs.1 to the caretaker, the caretaker will not overcharge anyone. More budget has been allocated for construction of CTCs. However, even with this approval, the CTCs will be constructed only if there is enough space in the settlements. The residents will have to identify the common area where the new CTC can be constructed.”

Usha Rani from CFAR highlighted the lack of proper waste collection and in this connection stated that a petition has been forwarded by CMC members to the Councilor for installing sirens in auto tippers so that the residents are aware of its arrival and can use it in a timely manner

To this, Rakesh Kumar responded that they have already requested for an additional auto tipper for waste collection because the present auto tipper is currently catering to other settlements.

He also stated that the department has requisitioned for more tools and equipment to solve the problem of irregular collection.

Khajaan Singh offered to relocate the Aanganwadi in the place under the jurisdiction of DUSIB

More than 150 construction and domestic workers attended stakeholders’ sensitization event organized by Sahaya Single Window. The meet held on June 21, 2017, at Community Hall in Anjanappa Garden, included officials from District Legal Services Authority, Labour department, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the local councillor.

The workers were from Anjanappa Garden, KP Agrahara and Ramakrishna Sevanagar.

Jaya Shankar, Senior Judge and Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Bangalore Urban, Rekha Kadresh, Councillor, BBMP, Santhosh Hipparigi, Labour Officer, Shobha Patil, Senior Labour Inspector, Venkatesh Murthy, Community Mobilizer, Welfare, BBMP were present.

Jaya Shankar, the Secretary, directed the Labour officers to reach out to all the unorganized workers in the settlements with the support of Single Window and bring them under unorganized workers Board to reach all the services meant for them.

The Labour department must work with Single Window and local leaders to reach out to the unorganized workers. The department has to work at three levels; to educate the community about the schemes and programmes, to help them to apply for it and then to guide them to access the scheme benefits, the senior judge said.

Since Single Window has already mobilized the community at the ground, the department has to ensure that the benefits reach them, he added.

The Secretary also assured the community that Legal Services Authority would work with the community and they can directly approach the Authority for any assistance in accessing Social and Legal entitlements.

He also said the department and Single Window must ensure that the labour card holders get all the benefits such as scholarship for their children, medical assistance and benefits like financial support for their children’s marriage and constructing houses for themselves.  

Labour Officer Hipparigi spoke about the services that are available and how they can be assessed. About 15 new cards were distributed to construction workers.

Till date, 76 construction workers have got labour card in Anjanappa Garden.

Hipparigi also appreciated Single Window efforts in identifying the construction workers and helping them in getting labour cards.

Murthy, the Community Mobilizer, explained about welfare schemes and the various activities of BBMP.

He also said Single Window received 10 new applications for labour cards and 50 applications for children scholarship.

The senior judge Jaya Shankar also visited the Anganwadi Center in Anjanappa Garden and interacted with the children and the Anganwadi team.

He verified the documents maintained at the Centre and instructed the Anganwadi workers to display the education materials suupplied by DWCD.

Seeing that in one hall, two centers were running, the Member Secretary promised to write to the department to shift one center to another location.

Uma, Community Representative, Sahaya Single Window, praised the initiative.

She said there was a time when they were not able to access lot of schemes and programmes meant for unorganized workers like them.

..now Single Window has brought many departments together. We got to know about the various schemes offered for us. We have taken the initiative along with Single Window to create the various schemes and also help the community to get these benefits. 

National Dissemination Meet on: Presenting the Findings from the Evaluation Study of a Three-Year Intervention on Enabling the Urban Poor to Strengthen Access to Sanitation  
The National Dissemination Meet held in Delhi, on February 27-28, 2017, enabled the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) to share and reflect collectively on the best practices that had emerged from a three year (2012-15) community-led urban sanitation intervention, in the cities of Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata. The intervention, which was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), was jointly implemented by the Centre for Advocacy and Research, and three Community Based Organizations (CBO) Mahila Pragati Manch, Daksh Samooah and Alor Disha.
The findings from the Evaluation Study Sanitation, Water and Hygiene: Strengthening Community Centered and Gender Responsive Provisioning, which was conducted by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and disseminated during the two-day Meet, highlighted and identified the changes that had been witnessed at the community level. They included:

• Hugely enhanced awareness levels on WSH in the community which has motivated individuals and the community as a whole to ensure cleanliness in their homes and the settlement.

The effort of the Women’s Forum has gone a long way in making sanitation a people’s issue, with communities having a say in not only improving but also sustaining access to better services- Ms. Vimla, Founder member, Mahila Pragati Manch

• Main success story in Delhi is the construction, renovation and maintenance of public toilets with official support from DUSIB and a decline in open defecation from 20 to 5%.

The community decided that they would build their own household toilets and within three years 300 household toilets were constructed with the help of local masons.- Ms. Tabussum from Mahila Pragati Manch, Delhi

• Filing of complaints /demands for clean and adequate drinking water supplies; regular garbage collection; community management of street cleaning and other felt needs.
• In Jaipur, introduction of new technologies like dry two-pit latrines; construction of individual toilets and it eventually link up with Swachh Bharat Mission.

Ms. Maya Verma, from Jhalana Kunda, recalls with a great sense of achievement of how the community had fought its own battles against open defecation, gone in search for an appropriate model for household toilets, learnt about the twin-pit toilet technique and replicated it on scale. “It is only after 35 households had constructed twin-pit latrines that the government woke up to the possibility and declared Jhalana Kunda as a learning site for officials and service providers.”          

• Women and girls have started discussing their menstrual and reproductive health problems with their mothers, at health camps and with programme teams.
• Families impose fewer restrictions on their daughters during their menstrual periods. (In Jaipur the proportion of women who did not allow their daughters to attend school has declined from 46 percent (baseline) to 16 percent (End line).
• In J P Colony cluster of Jaipur, an adolescent girls forum was formed to promote personal hygiene among women in the cluster.
• In Dakhin Kumrokhali and Stadiumpara clusters of a Kolkata slum, a women’s’ group named “Alor disha” was formed. CFAR with the help of this group started generating awareness about menstrual hygiene. The group also organized Dance Movement Therapy on health-related issues and provided them with proper knowledge on biological changes relating to women’s bodies.

Sabina Mondal from Alor Disha, Kolkata, speaks of her transformation from being a survivor of violence to agent of change in Rajpur-Sonapur Municipality. “In our settlements today we can say with great pride and confidence that the community has taken full ownership of the issue of sanitation and linked it with both health and hygiene; not just in our homes but also in the anganwadi and school.”

Over two hundred representatives from NGOs and CBOs-Mahila Pragati Manch, Daksh Samooah and Alor Disha- came together for the Dissemination Meet. They included 30 representatives from Jaipur, Kota and Jodhpur, 30 from Delhi, 20 from Bhubaneswar and 35 from Kolkata.