The first awareness talk

As part of the Health Awareness Drive planned during November in 16 schools where we've done the medical screening and treatments, we conducted the first awareness talk. The topic was General Hygiene.

The topic in itself is a simple one if you think about it. After all, how difficult is it for children to know that they need to take bath daily, or cover their mouth while coughing/sneezing, or wash hands and brush teeth and so on? Yes, it was partly easy because in this school (Munichinappa School, Adugodi) most children knew the basics, thanks to the teachers. Yet, there were some instances that stood out in the session, which I'll now share with you all.

The teachers divided the students from std 1 to 7 in two batches, combining children from std 1 to 4 and then, a separate class for std 5 to 7. While it was fun doing the session for the younger batch, it might have been better to split the older students even if it meant doing the session on another day, as it was a little difficult to handle a large class, especially since the sessions are made interactive.

Beginning: We wanted to begin the session by making the children really enthusiastic about a relatively dry topic such as hygiene. So we told them that for this day they are all doctors, and as doctors they have to check their classmates on the hygiene aspects we point out. They then introduced themselves as Dr. Ramya, Dr. Varsha, Dr. Rajesh and so on.... One child said "I'm Dr. Thayamma, MBBS, and I'll become a doctor and provide free service for all as Seva", and added a big grin to go with her introduction. :-)

Being animated: Be as animated as possible, and have children follow your actions. This way they'll remember what is being told much better.

For instance, after telling them to close their mouth while sneezing and wash their hands after that, I asked them what they'd do if they were holding something with both hands and suddenly felt like sneezing! A couple of kids took my instruction about covering their mouth with hands so seriously that they said they'll immediately drop whatever they are holding and rush to cover their mouth. We couldn't help laughing....

Then all of us and the children enacted the situation where we're holding some imaginary thing and are beginning to feel a sneeze coming....The whole class, teacher included, with our nostrils flared, went Aaa...Aaaa....Aaaaa.....Choooooo and the kids followed me covering my sneeze with my arm and elbow. I'm sure the kids wouldn't forget this one!

Being practical: When we spoke about taking a bath daily, some children admitted to not being able to do so. The reason for some was that water was not easily available, and for one child the reason was that she worked as a maid in two homes before rushing to school and again worked after school, hence never found the time for a bath.

Therefore, its important that we understand where they come from, and give them solutions which are possible in their daily life. We told them that even if they couldn't manage a bath everyday, they should at least wash their face, hands, feet, underarms and private areas every single day. To this, they all agreed.

Make it interactive: For each topic of discussion in the presentation, we first asked the children what methods they followed before giving them our inputs.

When it came to taking care of their ear, we asked them how they keep it clean. Around 80% said they use a cotton bud daily, around 5% said they use a pin, matchstick, any stick, and just about anything they find.

Being really young children, we didn't want to risk asking them to clean their ear with sharp objects themselves. So we told them about how the wax in the ear is in fact not a bad thing, and putting a bud makes the wax go deeper and block their hearing. We told them that cleaning the outer ear with a finger and a piece of damp cloth would suffice and wax usually comes out on its own. We also told them to immediately inform us or visit a doctor if they had ear pain, hearing discharge or diminished hearing.

Putting forth our points as responses to their answers would make them remember it better.

Home remedies - Most children know so many home remedies that its scary! We might not be able to tell them if its OK to use Coffee Powder and Limestone on a bleeding wound as their grandmother tells them to, unless we do a thorough research, or win an argument on Colgate toothpaste being better than Gopal Tooth powder! But what we can do is make them realize that experimenting with their health is not a good idea. Basic hygiene practices can go a long way in preventing ailments and common problems.

Why women won't speak up....

In the many sessions Vyjayanti and I have done on Menstrual Hygiene, the one thing which we always and  consciously did not bring up is the cultural and religious practices associated with it. Every individual has the right to follow a set of traditions and procedures which have been in place from time immemorial. And its absolutely fine if it makes them happy to do so.

But there are some questions which are difficult to answer.

How do you explain to a young girl that the reason she is excluded from prayers during festivals or prevented from visiting a religious place if she's having her period, has nothing to do with her bring impure or unholy? How do you make them understand that though this practice has no scientific reason, we can't stop doing it?

It is not uncommon, even in this day and age for menstruating women to be kept "aside" until her period is over. It is not uncommon that she is excluded from sharing a plate or a meal with the rest of the family. It is not strange that I have come across women who are made to live in a cowshed during this entire time. And this isn't just about a rural women who is not educated. In case of educated women, the cowshed becomes an outhouse. That's the only difference.

During our sessions, we do try and explain the original reason why it all began, which was to make sure that women get enough rest during her period, and doesn't have to worry about house hold work or any other tiring task. We do try and tell girls that it certainly doesn't mean that they are impure or unholy, it just an old tradition which nobody has attempted to change.

While all this can still be brushed aside if its really important on some religious or cultural level, how do you justify it when women end up compromising their health just to keep up with tradition?

So often, we have been asked by many adolescent girls and young women about the "period postponing pill". I was quite surprised the first time I heard these questions, more from rural girls than from girls in urban schools. I wondered how they even know about such a pill. And many of them even know the name, the dosage, etc. These pills are very common in villages and girls keeping popping pill after pill to delay their period, without consulting a doctor.

The reason? Festivals and ceremonies happen very frequently especially in villages. On one hand, menstruating girls feel very left out that they can't participate in a family event, and on the other hand they find it extremely embarrassing to proclaim the reason why they can't attend the event. Thanks to the saving pill, they end up confusing their natural biological processes resulting in heavy and painful bleeding during the delayed period.

I have asked so many women why they wouldn't speak up. For some, its fear to speak against an elderly person, for some its superstition, for some its respect for an age old tradition. Even those women who are educated do not speak up. By nature and by upbringing, women have been taught to be respectful, to be obedient, to think of others before themselves. Well, they're doing a good job at it. The only small hitch is that they are compromising on their health in the process.

If you are a man and if you are reading this, maybe you could speak up - for your wife, for your daughter, for your sister, for your mother. Because she wouldn't. She'd rather put up with the embarrassment, the humiliation and worst of all, put her health at risk, than speak up.

Henry Joseph

A month back, I visited a few rural areas near Kolar to identify suitable candidates for a certain project involving distribution of LED lamps and batteries for those who are wheel-chair bound. The concept, developed by Mr. R.S. Kalawar, an 83 year old retired railwayman, was intended to help out those people who used to be bread-winners, but a spinal cord injury has left them unable to do even the most basic work.We took the help of the Association for the Physically Disabled (APD) located in Banaswadi, Bangalore for shortlisting and identifying people who would suit our criteria.

I set off early one morning with another volunteer and Mr. Palasami from APD and visited 4 people, 2 from Hoskote and 2 others from Bangapete and KGF (Kolar). All of them were aged between 22 to 35 years, and were perfectly normal until an accident caused a severe spinal cord injury. I was really surprised to learn from APD that only about 10% of Spinal cord injuries are due to specific diseases, and the remaining 90% of these injuries are caused by entirely preventable accidents such as falling off coconut trees, or falling off a roof top, and in one case, poor management of the patient after an accident thanks to the mob who gathered to help!

Most of those I met and some others I spoke with later on were all identified by APD when they made rural visits. Before APD came along, these people were entirely bed-ridden, most often their bodies covered with bed sores and they had completely lost all hope in life. They never imagined that life could ever go back to normal, or that they could ever be independent again. Must say, APD does amazing work in rehabilitating people with Spinal Cord injuries in just about 3-4 months, by the end of which the same bed-ridden person is completely independent thanks to his wheel chair, walker and lessons learnt at APD. Many of them cook their own food, take bath themselves, even travel from place to place all by themselves.

Most of the people I met were trying to get over the fact that they are no longer as they used to be, and were very emotional about how their life turned around after the accident. One person, however, was different. Henry.

Henry, unlike the others, came in the 10% bracket where he suffered from TB of the spine when he was in std 8. Since then, he was bed-ridden for 6 painful years, before APD found him. After rehab, at the age of 20, he got back to his schooling, completed it, applied for PUC and also applied for ITI training. His college is located 8 kms away, but that is not a big problem for Henry, as he covers that distance every day on his wheel chair! Henry also travels to Bangalore whenever he needs to visit APD. He does this without any assistance, by a train, and even by a bus if needed. He frequently acts as a communication channel between the local villagers and the Panchyat. People go to Henry for any problem, and he always finds ways to help them. When we proposed the idea of the LED lamp to him, his first question was "Can I give you names of some more people like me who could benefit from this? There are 35 others like me in this village."

Henry lives in a small little house, given by the government, with his mother and younger brother. Earlier, he used to rent out bicycles to children, and earn a decent amount from that. Then along came a Chief Minister and distributed free bicycles for all, leaving Henry with hardly any clients. His tiny house is full of interesting things - 3 piggy banks, each saving money for a different purpose, some mobile phones which he sells and others which he repairs, some "inventions" he keeps trying out. When I asked Henry, what do you want to do in life, his immediate answer was "I want to do something that will be of help to others"

Was he always like this? In his own words "No, I was never like this. The problems I've been through have given me a new courage, and a new way of looking at life. My old friends and those who knew me before my injury are surprised at the change."

Henry stood out from the others because he had gone beyond trying to get used to his situation, he had gone way beyond feeling sorry for himself. He confronted his situation, took it head on and decided that the best way to deal with it, is to make something positive out of it.

Hats off to Henry!