Bihar Project

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Bihar

Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country. Bihar lies mid-way between the humid West Bengal in the east and the sub humid Uttar Pradesh in the west. It is bounded by Nepal in the north and by Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganga which flows through the middle from west to east.

Bihar is mainly a vast stretch of very fertile flat land. It has several rivers namely Ganga, Son, Bagmati, Kosi, Budhi Gandak, and Falgu. Central parts of Bihar have some small hills, for example the Rajgir hills.

Bihar is one of the most flood prone states of India. According to the report of the National Commission on floods, 16.5% of the total flood affected area of the country is located in Bihar, while 22.1% of the affected population in India lives in the alluvial plains of this state. This suggests a heavy concentration of flood-affected people over a smaller area. According to recent estimates 56.5% of the flood affected people in the country belong to Bihar and of this 76% population belong to north Bihar.

Discipleship Centre responded almost immediately to the Bihar floods that occurred in 2008 as the result of a breach in the river Kosi embankment. Our efforts were initially focused on the people living in four relief camps comprising of 1450 displaced families from Saharsa District. DC started a child care centre adjacent to each camp and more than 500 children attended these centers. Two meals were provide to those residing in the camps.

As families began to trickle back to their villages, DC helped them the dire shortage of food through the supply of dry food rations. The food items helped the families to survive until they could make arrangements to restart their livelihoods. Tarpaulin sheets were also provided to those families whose houses got washed away in the flood waters. As part of our further interventions in the midst of flood affected communities the primary focus is on children.

The Child resource centers address the special needs of children. Under emergency situations children are generally neglected and they bear the full brunt of the calamity. The childcare centers started by DC enable the children to come together under the loving care of 30 resource educators.

Activities

Community mobilization
Early childhood development/health & Nutrition
Non formal Education
Child right
Child personality development
Strengthening of VDC and VEC
Capacity Building

Capacity Building of flood prone communities of Darbhanga, Bihar

(Nov 2009 to Apr2010)

Good Governance

People are aware of different government schemes. They are also aware of all the natural resources that can be used during floods.

Health with special focus upon HIV/ AIDS

One health camp was organized at village Matha Pokhar and 151 patients treated. Free medicines were distributed to the patients. The community was actively involved in the camp. Women and children benefitted extensively.

10 Focus Group Discussions were conducted amongst adolescent boys and girls in five villages.

Following topics were covered:

1. HIV/AIDS prevention and cause

2. Awareness on HIV/ AIDS – mode of transmission, symptoms, course of the disease and prevention.

3. Use of condoms.

183 youth participated in the discussions. Both boys and girls participated actively in the discussions in spite of the taboo attached to the topics discussed. The participants have gained a higher level of awareness and are capable of sharing information to others in their peer groups.

The project nurse, TBAs and health volunteers are playing an active role in spreading awareness on maternal health and are advocating family planning

Livelihood

Farmers were motivated and showed an eagerness to learn more about improved agricultural methods. They are open to try out new methods that would bring about an increase in agricultural yields. Enhanced knowledge on animal care has helped in reducing animal morbidity rates.

Women Empowerment

7 SHGs from the new villages and 5 SHGs from the old are involved in the process of inter loaning when a loan from group funds are used by the members for personal needs and for income generation purposes. From the new villages 3 members have started a small business of selling vegetables.

Education:

All the nine tuition centers are functioning properly and 80 dropout children were admitted into the mainstream. Parents are showing a positive attitude to education. Within the homes, parents encourage the children to study and make efforts to lessen the time spent by them on household chores. Republic day was celebrated with cultural programs. The national flag was hoisted by one of the village chiefs. The VDC and SHG members were present. 396 children participated in the program.

Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation

One meeting was organized for people from the new villages. They were made aware of their vulnerabilities. Government schemes were discussed. People were made aware of the various local resources that can be made use of during flood situations. Networking procedures were explained. The community has welcomed the moves taken by the project to build resilience in the people through the process of disaster preparedness and capacity building.

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Lesson learnt

A small revolving fund would benefit the SHG members who can earn a good income from growing vegetables. The soil in the villages is ideal for vegetable gardening.

Impact & sustainability

The VDC are emerging as active change agents, capable of initiating development programs for their villages through effective government networks/ advocacy. The villages are earning a reputation for the successful implementation of government schemes. Infrastructure developments are taking place in the villages through the NREGA programs besides providing short-term employment to people willing to do unskilled labour.

The health component has spread adequate awareness in people. Immunization coverage has improved and 70% of children are being vaccinated as per the immunization schedule.

Child Survival Program, Bihar - October 2009 to March 2010

Early childhood development /health and nutrition - Awareness programs were conducted on the following:

Malaria
Kala-azar

The causes, life cycle, signs and symptoms, preventive measures and treatment for both the vector borne diseases were discussed.

TB - mode of infection, symptoms, prevention, treatment, benefits of the DOTS program and significance of early diagnosis.

147 people mostly women and youth attended the programs.

Health camp was organized to cover people from all the 5 villages 420 people benefitted. The CBO members in each village helped in spreading information about the camp in their respective villages. They saw to it that all in need of medical interventions attended the camp. The members also that ensured the smooth functioning of the program.

Training on kitchen gardening was conducted in each target village. Seeds were distributed to 324 families. The research agriculturists provided professional and practical training on kitchen gardening. This activity is being promoted to eliminate malnutrition and overcome micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) deficiencies in the diet of the people. Awareness program on balanced diet was held in village Dhanela and 84 women participated.

12 TBAs attended training at the project office in Darbhanga. The topics were presented in a very interesting manner through the use visual aids, flip charts and active group discussions. The teaching was mostly in the local dialect, making the participants to converse/ discuss freely. All queries were well answered. After the session the TBA kits were distributed among the participants.

Three international days were observed.

· World AIDS day – spread awareness in the community

· International Women’s day

· World cancer day

World AIDS Day

Awareness was spread in the community on various aspects related to HIV/AIDS that included the mode of transmission, the seriousness of the disease. Stress was laid on the fact that there is no cure and prevention is the only solution to the problem.

Participants were rather shy in the beginning but later the people opened up and actively interacted with each other and the resource person.

International Women’s Day

The program started with an introduction on the significance of women’s day. With reference to outstanding women who have made a difference to society through their contributions the program officer stressed on the modern role of a woman as a leader and change agent. She urged each one of them to work for the common good of the society to which they belong as a means to bring in sustainable development.

Celebration of Cancer Day

Two programs were conducted in villages Dhanela east and west in which 60 and 70 people from 4 villages attended.

The following awareness programs were conduced on a cluster basis such that there was participation of people from those target villages attached to each cluster.

Awareness was spread on:

1] family planning

2] importance of girl children

Awareness program on Family Planning

The program was held in two clusters - villages Dhanela and Bhapati. People from the target villages came together to the nearest cluster for the program.

Program detail-

The participants were asked to come up with the meaning of a happy family and to state their roles/ responsibilities in the making of such a family. In the beginning the people were rather quiet but later began to give their views and ideas. The resource person then linked the concept of a happy family to birth spacing and family planning.

The different contraceptive choices for women were explained for both permanent and temporary solutions.

Visual aids and illustrations on flip charts made the sessions interesting and even the illiterates were able to understand the teachings.

Awareness program on importance of Girl Children

Program was organized in two clusters.

Program Details-

After introducing the importance of girls in the society the resource person discussed the following issues:

The definition of a child
Difference between a boy child and girl as perceived by the society
Examples of famous Indian women who have contributed to society/ country
Importance of education for girls
Girls as a unique creation of God and hence the need to protect them and ensure that their rights are met
Myths concerning girls that has contributed to their discrimination
Gender discrimination as a social evil

Nutritious food is being served to the children at the non-formal literacy centres on a daily basis and this has helped in the alleviation of malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies.

Children came together at two NFE centres (in villages Dhanela and Bapati) for the checkup. 398 children were checked up. There was active participation from the VEC and youth groups in collecting and organizing the children during the checkup. The health workers will do a regular follow up to ensure that the prescribed medicines are taken regularly and to ascertain the treatment progress.

Child rights - Two awareness programs were conducted in each NFE center. Both parents and respective educators were present. Through various interactive games, child rights were explained to the children. Intensive awareness was also spread in the community. Families are making an attempt to eliminate child abuse/ harassment and child labour.

Bal Panchayats - All the members participate actively in the meetings. They are able to articulate their problems and also come out with the relevant solutions. The project is making every effort to enable the children to work independently and to channelize their energies in a productive manner. The Bal Mandal also monitors families to ensure that children are not abused and their needs are fulfilled in the best possible manner.

Each village has a Village Education Committee (VEC) consisting of 12 members that includes both men and women. The VECs are functioning well with the members taking full responsibility towards the project.

Personality development

Through moral classes the children are taught to inculcate good values, and manners through stories, role plays and pictures / visual aids.

The impact is being seen in the behaviour of the children who are better mannered, are more responsible and show a positive attitude towards their studies.

A major impact can be observed in children. Parents are open to educating their children especially the girls.

Impact & sustainability

Through the programs conducted by Discipleship Centre for adolescent girls in the target villages, most of them are aware about their physical growth and development. This has had a positive impact on health and they are aware about the various diseases that can affect them and preventive measures that can be taken. This has also motivated girls to study and several are coming forward to attend the project literacy classes.

Women have become articulate enough to verbally express their needs and seek solutions for themselves. By participating in the parent-teacher meetings they are involved in the education of their children and provide a family environment that is conducive to learning.

Immunization coverage in the villages has improved considerably. The awareness spread by the health workers is beginning to pay off. This is also true of the added knowledge in the villages about HIV/ AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

Students are also regularly attending the NFE centres with out being forced by the parents or concerned educators.

The VEC members are involved in all the project activities and render active support and help during major programs such as health camps, celebration of national days, training sessions, etc.

The trained TBAs are capable of conducting safe deliveries on their own. In villages where women still resort to home deliveries this is a much needed facility maternal health has improved due to constant monitoring by the community health workers.