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Everything has its own time


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It’s been a while since I last posted and I realise that I haven’t really talked about how the work is going here.
Work started quite slowly as we were constrained by the lack of a cohesive youth group to work with. The group only formed in January so it’s been a challenge trying to strengthen the group and build confidence in the members to believe that they can achieve something if they decide to take action.
One of the highlights of our group formation process and our time so far, was definitely our first Community Action Day (CAD). We took a group decision to raise awareness of good hand-washing practice, as this is not common knowledge in the village. Many people use soil and ash or just water to wash their hands and we felt that by visiting the three village primary schools to give a short talk and demonstration about good practice, we would reach the greatest number of people since all households are multi-generational. In an interactive way, we ensured the children all knew why, when and how to wash their hands and everyone had a go at washing their hands using the correct steps. At the end, all the children received a bar of soap to take home so they could continue the good practice immediately and show their families what they had learnt.
It was a really good day, not only because we got our message across well (local volunteers report seeing people wash their hands properly with soap now), but also because everyone in the youth group got involved and even the quieter ones, especially the girls, had some responsibility on the day. Despite the storm the night before destroying the road, everyone was there and cheerful, and the day went almost according to plan.
Aside from our CAD and building the capacity of the youth group, we spent a lot of time in February learning about the village and the issues it faces. We held several focus group discussions to gain specific knowledge about the different areas of the villages concerning primary health care, clean water access, sanitation and hygiene practices and the challenges faced due to the condition of the road. We also met with lots of stakeholders to link them to the youth group and discover what services they can provide or what their needs are.
Whilst it was useful to discover all this information for ourselves, I couldn’t help feeling that the previous ICS volunteers had built a more comprehensive knowledge through their data collection but we haven’t had easy access to this information. We’ve realised how important it is to ensure the next ICS group have as much information as possible about the work we’ve been doing, and our recommendations, so they can start immediately where we left off. It will also help that the youth group is stronger and that they will be continuing this work, creating a more continuous process and helping them become self-sustaining so that when there are no more ICS volunteers the youth of the village will have the ability to take action themselves.
As we’ve now passed our mid-point and it’s only a month till we return to the UK, we have plenty of work to do on top of all the reporting and evaluation we need to do for the handover. Our plans for the next month are as follows:
-        reactivate the community clinic by renovating the building and involving the community in plastering, painting and furnishing it

-        set up a mobile health camp so each area of the village has access to a doctor once a week

-        provide training for midwives in pre and post-natal care by linking with government and non-government organisations who provide this

-        petition the local government to construct the main road to and from Chardakatia

-        organise a Pond Sand Filter (PSF) maintenance demonstration (PSFs clean the pond water to make it safe to drink but the community don’t know how to maintain or fix the filters)

-        research feasibility and perhaps set up a clean water financing committee so the community can fund the mending of PSF by themselves and reduce aid dependency

-        continue English and Computer Skills classes with the youth group

-        strengthen the youth group by holding elections and improving their links with stakeholders

-        set recommendations for the next batch of ICS volunteers

Should be a busy month!
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