Introduction
Along with the construction of toilets and the creation of a
sanitation complex in each of the schools in the three villages, the
Environmental Sanitation Institute (ESI) is focusing on the development of a
primary school curriculum to teach children about the importance of personal
hygiene. A “Safai Sadhak” living in each
village has been hired to facilitate this integrated and holistic process. Every week, one school day is devoted to
engaging students in a dialogue about how everyone can participate in creating
the best school, the best homes and the best village possible. The school sessions use various approaches to
engaging the students, including “Ideal Home,” “Ideal School” and “Ideal
Village” competitions as well as action-based learning.
Starting the last week in October, the Safai Sadhaks
conducted “Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice” surveys in each village. The information gathered in these surveys is
used to better understand the needs of the community and developing future
projects.
NSS Students and ESI
Activities in Pedhamali & Vanthal Villages
For seven days, we all worked together on the following
activities.
Arrival and Welcome: The villagers gave the students a traditional
welcome. The students set up their
accommodations in the local primary school and interacted with the teachers,
children and youth of the community.
Opening Ceremony: In the village’s main temple,
Jayeshbhai of ESI gave an engaging presentation to the students and villagers
about the purpose of NSS and about healthy life habits. Jayeshbhai’s spirit and ability to connect
deeply with people of all walks of life set an inspiring tone to the start of
the activities.
Morning Chanting: Every morning at 5:30, the students
walked around the villages singing bhajans and dhuns, and saying slogans about
sanitation, health and de-addiction. After that, they sit in prayer and
discuss what they will do.
Cleaning: In small groups, the students swept
the streets of the village section by section. These created opportunities for
students to interact the week, every street had been cleaned. The students
become a living embodiment of the ASP’s sanitation message, and channels
through which the message can be conveyed to the villagers.
Outer and inner
cleanliness effort: At
the centre of Pethamali was a public urinal which had become a dumping ground
for waste of all kinds and so was not being used. Because of its central location, symbolic and
practical value, it was an ideal place to concertize the values of cleanliness
and community service and offer a useful gift to the village. Students, ESI members, village youth and
adults worked together to 4 containers of waste from the area, clean the urinal
properly and build a soak pit for safe urine disposal. Once it was clean, it was painted with bright
colors and decorated with messages about cleanliness and welcoming words. When completed, an inauguration was held,
complete with bhajan singing, prayers and ribbon cutting ceremony. This was a
unique experience for all, to bring to life the idea of a urinal being as clean
and beautiful as a temple.
Because the labor
was infused with love and dedication, it had profound impacts on both the NSS
students and the villagers. Though at
first the students were reluctant to enter the urinal, over the course of the
cleaning they saw the impact of their service on the site, and became
increasingly motivated to contribute to its beautification. They experienced the transformational
potential of service work. The sustainability of the effort was also clear as
the villagers had taken on the responsibilities to maintain the cleanliness of
the site in the days following the inauguration. The urinal was free of garbage
and children played outside of it safely.
Furthermore, despite the fact that there is no water source inside,
villagers made the effort to visit a nearby home to take water from there and
clean the urinal inside after use.
Dustbin behavior change
program: Over 150
empty oil tins were collected from outside the village. Sitting in the centre of the town, ESI
members and NSS students cleaned the bins, painted them and turned the
otherwise waste material into dust bins decorated with the words “Give me
garbage”. Some of the bins were placed
in the public places, such as the school and the temples, and also one was
given to each shopkeeper. We also took advantage of moments when many villagers
were together to present the dustbins to individual women, explaining to them
about the work that was done to create the bins, how to use them and why. In front of their neighbors and community
members, the women vowed they would use the bins and also motivate their neighbors
to do the same.
Home stay: For most of their stay in the
village, the students lived together in the local primary school, participating
in food preparation, serving and cleaning.
However, on the fourth day each student was hosted by a family, working
with them, taking meals together and sharing the messages about the importance
of sanitation. Upon arrival, each of the
students brought a dustbin as a gift for their host family. This experience was pivotal for creating deep
heart-to-heart connections between the students and the villagers.
Animal Husbandry and Cattle Camp: Animal
husbandry is one of the two principal occupations in Pedhamali. 18 months ago, the women of the village
created the Women’s Milk Cooperative Society to get a fairer price on the
market for the milk they produce. In Mehesana district, it is the only all
woman-run milk cooperative. To support the Cooperative and its members, we
organized a “cattle camp” with 5 veterinary doctors from the area, who treated
over 80 cows and buffalos. Additionally,
a local dairy expert was invited to speak to the women of the milk cooperative
about milk handling and the income generation possibilities of secondary milk
product productions. The 60 women in
attendance were enriched and inspired by the opportunity to learn from this
woman leader from another community.
Cattle Trough Masonry: For many years, stagnant water has
accumulated regularly in front of a local cattle water trough because it is
used for laundry, leading to increased mosquito breeding and potential malarial
risks. As the community had designated
this as a priority, we bought 3 tractors of sand to infill the area in front of
the trough. From midnight to three o’clock in the morning, with the help of
several villagers, we built a small channel to ensure the water would run off quickly
instead of stagnating.
Soak pit for disposal
of waste water: Upon
arrival in Pedhamali, we noticed that waste water from people’s homes was
running onto the roads. Thanks to ESI
expertise in the area of rural sustainable technology, we built 8 soak pits in
individual homes using low cost and waste materials: broken bricks, cracked
earthenware pots and coconut fibers.
Village Rallies: To bring to life the messages about
de-addiction, we paraded through the streets of the village with a giant
10-headed Ravana puppet, with each head representing a different vice, chanting
slogans about de-addiction. Similarly,
after workshops were offered separately to the men and women of the village
about HIV/AIDS, we led a rally to share the messages of prevention and the
importance of getting tested before marriage with the whole village.
Evening Programs:
Values-based Theatre
Performance: The
students performed a series of skits that they had written themselves, each one
focused on a different problem faced by the community, based on what they had
observed during the day. Many villagers were touched by the engaging and
humorous performances, never having seen that type of drama before. Sureshbhai, “Suchita Sadak” also gave an
engaging talk about the mission of the ASP and the work that Jaldeepbhai
(Pethamali’s Safai Sadak) and Snehelbehen have undertaken over the last 5 years
and their devotion to the village.
Water budgeting: In Pedhamali, nearly half of the
homes do not have a way to turn off their water taps, leading to large volumes
of water waste and making it difficult for water to reach homes at higher
elevations. Two local experts from the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA)
were invited to share some of the best practices and innovations in water saving
technologies that are being experimented in the district. They explained an
upcoming pilot project for Pedhamali
that would see every home equipped with a proper tap.
Spiritual songs: A famous local bhajan singer was
invited to perform in the village, singing songs that made connections between
inner purity and external virtues such as cleanliness and de-addiction. Several other performers dressed in
traditional garb and performed short skits to make the presentation more
engaging.
Community Marriage: We visited every home to personally
invite the villagers to the “wedding” of Jaldeepbhai and Snehelbehen. The couple had married three years ago, but
very few of the villagers had attended the wedding, so everyone was excited to
participate in the wedding. Dressed in traditional village wedding clothing,
Jaldeepbhai and Snehelbehen came to the temple in a car and accompanied by all
of the excitement, firecrackers and dancing as is custom. During the wedding ceremony itself, we
integrated discussions about the issues of dowry, child marriage and child
labour. Various men took the role of
“Goddess”, dressed as women, and walked around the crowds supposedly collecting
money for Snehelbehen’s dowry. In fact,
the money will be used towards projects in the village. Over 7000 rupees were collected, showing the
villagers how much collective wealth they have and how much they can contribute
towards the good of everyone.
Closing ceremony: The chief guest at the closing
ceremony was a devotee of Swami Sacchidanand, a famous saint in Gujarat. He gave a presentation integrating scientific
knowledge with spirituality and discussion of values, giving many examples
relevant to the realities of the villagers.
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