Can the Marginalised Communities Mitigate Covid-19?
As the coronavirus continues to spread and confine people to their homes, many are filling pages with their experiences of living through a pandemic. But how would a person sharing a tiny shanty with 10 people in a slum talk about self-quarantine? How can one explain hand hygiene and social distancing to a manual scavenger? How do you tell an Adivasi, who struggles for one meal a day, to prioritise soap and hand sanitizers? How do you educate a t…
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Posted on : April 6, 2020
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and the virus has now spread to many countries and territories. While a lot is still unknown about the virus that causes COVID-19, we do know that it is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person (generated through coughing and sneezing) Individuals can also be infected from touching s…
Declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has put India’s health machinery under enormous stress over the past two months. Lakhs of doctors, nurses, hospital staff, officials of Central and State health departments are working tirelessly to respond to the pandemic. At the same time, NGOs are reaching out to millions of vulnerable communities, busting myths and raising awareness about the im…
A participatory water stewardship approach has ensured sustainable water supply for the villages
Groundwater – we take it for granted, use it, abuse it. But little do we realise that the planet is slowly drying up. Increased human activity has resulted in an acute water crisis that is ruthless and unforgiving. Eighty percent of rural and urban domestic water supply in India comes from groundwater. According to UNESCO World Water Developmen…
CAF India has supported programmes aimed at cancer screening and awareness generation among the communities to mitigate the deadly disease and reduce the incidence of cancer in India Anish Sengupta write about the various initiatives
Cancer is a crippling disease. It can destroy an entire family sending it down a spiral of economic and emotional turmoil. Early detection and treatment of cancer, however, can to a significant e…
“Living in deserts for centuries, our people know how precious water is. Our ancestors taught us to save every single drop of water. They are more precious than pearls,” Mahavir Singh tells me while pointing to the rainwater harvesting reservoir at the demo farm run by Urmul Health Research and Development Trust at their Bajju campus in Bikaner. The farm demonstrates the best sustainable and eco-friendly, agricultural practices that…
The Karni Mata temple in Bikaner is a temple where rats are worshipped and fed. To see a white rat among all the black and grey rats is considered great fortune. I could not spot a white rat during my trip to Bikaner, but I would still call myself fortunate. If not the white rat (who is considered the embodiment of Karni Mata), I met several women, who have battled harsh weather, an arid terrain, stunted vegetation and a patriarchal soc…
Ever wondered where those sparrows went? The one that rested on your window on a hot, lazy afernoon… and the one that perched on the railing of your balcony every morning and greeted you with its pleasantries? Our winged and feathered friends -- sparrows, vultures, Edward’s Pheasants even the finches that inspired Darwin to work out the theory of evolution, are all staging a disappearing act. And human’s have a major role to pla…