Voluntary Integration for
Education and Welfare of Society (VIEWS) is a youth centric growing grass-root
organization working to improve food and livelihoods security among marginal
and landless farmers in Odisha. Our
attempt is to
help reduce the food and nutrition issues faced by tribals, dalits and the
socially deprived by helping them revive organic and multi-cropping practices.
Vision:
Empowering
marginalized communities to improve their quality of life.
Mission:
Bringing holistic development through innovative solutions for a better society.
Operating from the
eastern part of India- home to some of the poorest communities in the world,
particularly vulnerable for food insecurity, VIEWS has been working with
different national, international agencies and the Government on various high
impact projects for the last 10 years enhancing the wellbeing of communities in
two broad areas.
- Improving of quality of life of children
and youth through education
- Empower youth through SRH and family
planning programmes
- Improving the livelihood and social
security of rural farmers by adopting the ‘Farm-Farmer-Family’ approach;
starting with transformation of the farms and complementing seasonal
agricultural incomes through opportunities arising in the non-farm sector.
This diversification has
helped the community reduce vulnerability by spreading income risk.
Household-based activities in the non-farm sector have been particularly
rewarding for the rural women improving their economic well-being and enabling
them to spend more on healthcare, education, food, nutrition, etc. for their
families.
Our future initiatives will continue to create an
enabling environment of well-being for the poor with a focus on self
-sustaining community led initiatives through knowledge,
innovation and transformative action.
Genesis: VIEWS
was founded in 2002 by a group of youth in Odisha who initially worked for
relief and rehabilitation work after the 1999 super cyclone in the state with
Lutheran World Service (India). The experience and exposure made them realize
the need for a committed local organization to continue working for the
critical social issues plaguing the community.
Our Focus Areas
- Promoting Inclusive Education for underprivileged children and youth
- Food Security and Livelihoods Promotion
- Sustainable Agriculture & Organic farming
- Revival of Millets for Nutritional Security
- Climate Change and Environment Protection
- Youth Empowerment & Social Entrepreneurship
- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
- Clean Energy & Development Research
Our Key Accomplishments
- 3000 +farmers introduced to modified paddy cultivation method called the “SRI (systematic rice intensification)”,
- 2500 +organic farms created to replenish micro nutrients and restore soil health of their agricultural landscapes
- 3000+ marginal families provided with alternative livelihood in fishery, livestock, agribusiness and microenterprise development for ultra-poor.
- 3000 nutrition gardens created to help women access healthy greens with adequate macro and micronutrients at their backyards.
- 1500+ Youth empowered through training to enhance their employability and job opportunities
- 1250 youth and eligible couples training on SRH, family planning and HIV/AIDS Prevention
- 1000+ adolescent girls trained in menstrual hygiene solutions, reproductive and sexual health.
- 2500+ Women empowered and enabled via Self Help Groups as a new breed of community actors. “Our team had a great experience working with VIEWS during our summer internship. We worked in the coastal fishing villages of Ganjam district, teaching spoken English and computer to young students besides training the youth on different teaching learning methods, Our team also conducted career counseling and personality development sessions. Lauren Matranga, University of Texas, Austin, USA
Promoting Inclusive Education for Blind Students in Odisha
VIEWS organised State level Multi Stakeholders Meet on Prevention of Child Marriage with the support from Action Aid & UNICEF
Children
with visual impairments face disproportionate challenges in learning and by the
time they reach college, they are significantly under-represented in science,
mathematics and other disciplines. In all the 19 schools for the visually
challenged in Odisha, students continue their struggle to learn not only without sight but
also without text books. Newspapers have time and again carried reports of
students voicing their demands for Braille text books especially for the senior
classes (8th, 9th and 10th). Unfortunately the only
Braille press (privately-run ) in the state remains dedicated to printing of
text books from class 1 to 7 since the cost is borne by the central government
under a scheme titled Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. With
no similar provision of funds for senior classes, the high school students are
mostly left to the mercy of teachers and a few notes handed over by their
seniors. The problem is not limited to schools alone as the handful few
that make it to higher institutions of earning continue to face the dearth of
text books. Please refer to this news report on the shortage of Braille books
in blind schools of from Odisha published in a major English daily in 2016:
http://googleweblight.com/i?u=http://indianexpress.com/article/education/visually-challenged-students-face-shortage-of-braille-books-reading-assistants/&grqid=9WR-Oefx&hl=en-IN
Under this backdrop, weat VIEWS converting high school books in audio format by engaging professionals. Our priority will be to prepare audio version of all text books from class 8 to class 10 under the state curriculum apart from popular fictionand nonfiction book
VIEWS has already conducted an initial study on the requirements of books for visually disabled children at the Bhim Bhoi Blind School in Bhubaneswar. Basedon the need assessment study and discussion with the teachers and students, theproject was designed. VIEWS intend to work closely with the community, theschool management committees, as well as the parents of visually impairedpersons for a wider outreach with the help of campaigns, and social media. VIEWSwill also try to engage the volunteers and experts for conversion of books intoaudio books for the success and sustainability of the project. The project willbe implemented in an inclusive approach with active support from Odisha BlindPersons Association.
The project goal is to empower poor visually impaired students
through audio books education in the state of Odisha (India).
The project
objectives are
- To
record the entire curriculum of high school and other useful books with
the active wilebooinvolvement of committed volunteers – so that students
can listen to all that they want to learn, improve their academic
knowledge and perform better in exams.
- To
help students listen to all that they want to learn, improve their
academic knowledge and perform better in exams.
The project strategy would be
- Selection of books of subjects that require to be urgently recorded with the guidance of blind college teachers
- Mobilization of professionals to convert the books into audio books
- Setting up of an audio recording facility in Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha
- Production of audio books
- Coordinating with Schools, colleges and organizations for working for blind students for setting up of mini audio books library and smooth distribution of audio books
- Creation of a website from where the students can directly download the audio files
- Establish strong data base for students for monitoring and documenting the stories of change
VIEWS launched Digital Literacy Project in urban slums of Bhubaneswar with the support of Asia Initiatives
Menstrual Hygiene Management project organised with the support of 1% Fund for Development
VIEWS conducting community meetings to create
awanress on menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls at village level
VIEWS conducting Video shows on importance of
menstrual hygiene Process among adolescent girls at community level
Young women engaging producing low cost
sanitary napkins in village based sanitary napkin production Unit
VIEWS conducting School level trainings on
menstrual hygiene management with the technical support from Doctors
Conducing community trainings cum awareness on
menstrual hygiene among women self-help groups
Adolescent girl demonstrating and promoting the
low cost sanitary napkin at village level
Promoting low cost sanitary napkins in rural
exhibitions for sale and promotion
- Background:The 1st workshop titled “District level sensitization workshop cum exposure visits to Shraddha Clinic” was organized in collaboration with District Swastya Samiti in Rayagada. In addition,resource and communication materials like posters and leaflets on Shraddha Clincin local language were developed and distributed for wider dissemination.
The detailed workshop report is as follows;
UNFPA, VIEWS and the Rayagada District Swastya
Samiti jointly organized a one day “District
level Sensitization Workshop cum Exposure Visit to Shraddha Clinics” on 24th
November 2018 at DTU Hall, DHH, Rayagada to disseminate information on the
services available at the Shraddha
Clinics among the adolescents and teachers from educational institutes in
the district.
- Key objectives of the workshop
- Create sensitization on Adolescent
Friendly Health Clinics (AFHCs) facilities among adolescents, head of the
educational institutions, local NGOs and other stakeholders in Rayagada
district of Odisha
- Facilitate exposure visit to
Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics
(AFHCs) to demonstrate the facilities available at Shraddha Clinics.
- Dissemination
of IEC materials like posters and leaflets on Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHCs) facilities among
adolescents, head of the educational institutions for wider out reach.
3.
Participants Profile
69
participants from 11 colleges of 5 blocks including Gudari, Muniguda, Gunupur,
Rayagada and Bismacuttack participated in the workshop cum exposure visit. The participants
included 32 girls, 26 boys and 11 teachers.
Table 1: List of colleges that participated in the
workshop
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of the college
|
Place
|
|
1
|
Rayagada
Autonomous college
|
Rayagada
|
|
2
|
SRM
ITI
|
Rayagada
|
|
3
|
GIACR
Engineering College
|
Rayagada
|
|
4
|
SSRS,
Hukumtola,
|
Muniguda
|
|
5
|
Govt.
ITI
|
Rayagada
|
|
6
|
Maa
Markama Junior College
|
Bisamacuttack
|
|
7
|
Laxmipati
Singhania Higher Secondary School
|
JK
Pur
|
|
8
|
Thayarama
Women’s College
|
Gunupur
|
|
9
|
Science
College
|
Gudari
|
|
10
|
Women’s
College
|
Rayagada
|
|
11
|
Shree
Ugratara Higher Secondary School
|
JK Pur
|
Table 2: List of guest,
resource persons and staff who attended
the programme
|
SI.No
|
Name
|
Designation
|
Department /Organization
|
|
1
|
Dr. S.P.
Padhy
|
CDM & PHO-cum District Mission Director
|
District Health Dept
|
|
2
|
Mr. Basudev
Ratha
|
Manager,
RKSK
|
DHH-Rayagada
|
|
3
|
Dr. B.P.Padhy
|
M.O
|
DHH-Rayagada
|
|
4
|
Dr. Rahul Laxman
|
District Consultant
|
UNFPA
|
|
5
|
Ms. Chitrapola Kandapani
|
Counselor
|
Shraddha Clinic
|
|
6
|
Mr. S.Bheema Rao
|
Secretary
|
VIEWS
|
| | | |
| | | |
4. Proceedings
of the Workshop
4.1. Inauguration
of the workshop: The workshop started with
the song “ Vande Utkal Janani” by a group of adolescent girls at 10.30 A.M as
per the schedule. Mr. S.Bheema Rao,
Secretary of VIEWS welcomed all the guests, resource persons and participants
and shared a brief background of the programme, objectives of the workshop and expectation
from the participants. All the participants introduced themselves and their
expectations from the workshop.
After that, Mr. S.Bheema Rao invited all the guests and
resource persons to the dais. Dr. Rahul Laxman, District Consultant-UNFPA,
Rayagada interacted with the participants and gave a brief presentation on Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), whike sharing the context and objectives
of the workshop. He stated that “the overview and rationale of the intervention
is to create demand for adolescent health services specifically AFHC/Shraddha
Clinic services through sensitization of teachers in educational
institutions”. He stated that “this
workshop will enhance the knowledge
and understanding of the teachers and adolescents on adolescent health issues
and various services available at AFHC. This will contribute to increase the
referral of adolescents to AFHC from educational institutions.
The
key topics shared as follows
-
Rashtriya Kishor
Swasthya Karyakram(RKSK)
- Objectives and functions of Shraddha Clinics
- Menstrual
Hygiene Scheme
- WIFS
and MHS status
- Convergence
between health, education, ICDS and ST& SC Development
He
also emphasized that every adolescent has right to access and avail the
benefits of Shraddha clinic for their well being.
4.2. Overview
on Shraddha Clinics:
Dr. S.P.Padhy, CDM & PHO-cum District Mission
Director, Rayagada interacted with the participants and explained various
benefits available at Health and Family welfare department of NHM for different
age groups including newborn health care,
Infant care, female health care. He shared that “Shraddha Clinic was
established under Health and Family Welfare Department, GoO for adolescents as
an Integrated Counseling & Management Centre for Adolescent health, family
planning, infant and young child feeding, gender based violence and non
communicable diseases. So all the adolescents age between from 10 to 19 years
from the rural and urban should access the facility available at the Dist. Headquarter
and CHC level. He also told that, trained
counselors were available to provide timely counseling & referral services
to the adolescents and maintain privacy of clients at the Shraddha clinics.
4.3. Benefits
of Shraddha Clinic:
In this technical session, Dr. B.P Padhy interacted with
the participants and shared the benefits
of Shraddha Clinics in a participatory mode with live examples to create
interest among the adolescents as well as to help them gain better understanding on the
topic of Shraddha Clinics. He also made a power point presentation on the benefits
of Shraddha clinic in Odiya language. The leaflets and posters on the benefit
of Shradda Clinics prepared in Odiya language were also distributed.
After
the session, the participants raised various questions related adolescent
health and Shraddha Clinics to which he responded patiently while sharing various
tips related to the following topics required for adolescent health.
- Nutrition,
carbohydrate, protein, fat, &
Minerals requirements
- Calculation
of Body Mass Index (BMI) and its check up,
- Hemoglobin
check, Anti Natal Check up
- Referral
services
- Puberty
- Menstrual
Hygiene & irregularity
- Non-
Communicable disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Gender violence
- Aggressive & Depression
- Learning
and understanding problem
4.4. Interface with Adolescents and Educational Institutions:In
this interaction session, Mr. Basudev Ratha, Manager-RKSK presented a power
point. The key topics covered were as follows
- What
is Shraddha Clinic
- Clients
and target group for shraddha clinics
- Levels
of services available at district
hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and Community Health Centers (CHCs)
- Counseling , referral and linkages with other
treatment service provision are available for target groups including
adolescents
He shared the status of
Shraddha clinic services in Rayagada. As many as 8 SHRADDHA clinics are
functioning in Rayagada District (including CHC, SDH and DHH
- Total
of 2248 cases have been registered at SHRADDHA clinic during 2017-18
and provided service at SHRADDHA clinic.
- 1562
cases have been registered and provided service in the year 2018 alone till
September
He
also briefed about the following services available at the Shraddha-Integrated
Counseling Centre;
- Counseling
services
to target groups
- Facilitating
referral linkages
with secondary and tertiary level facilities including cross referral across
the facilities where ever required to address the health issues of the target
group.
- Establishing
linkages with other service facilities such as ICTC, de-addiction centers,
ICDS counseling services and legal system for comprehensively addressing the
health and related issues.
- Providing
treatment to the target group for the conditions that give rise to ill health or cause
of concern.
- All counseling components are done under one
umbrella and all counselors at every level sit in one room with separate
cubicles.
- The clinics are established in CHCs where at least one counselor of any of
the programme under H&FW dept. is available.
- ICTC
counsellors, RKSK trained AYUSH Mos and ANMs provide services to adolescents in
SHRADDHA clinic.
Counseling
and Services provided on
- Sexual
and reproductive health
- Nutrition
- Menstrual
Hygiene
- RTI/STI
- Gender
based violence
- Substance
abuse
Management of SHRADDHA Clinic
- Timing of the Clinic: The timing is
as per the OPD timing of the same institution.
He
shared that the functioning timings of Shraddha clinic in Rayagada district was
from 12 P.M to 3 PM on Monday and Saturday in CHC and 6 days of a week in District
HQ. He requested all the adolescents should avail the benefits of AHCs near to
their place.
4.5.
Focus Group Discussion: FGD was organized on the
problems and issues faced by adolescents. Two boys groups, 2 Girls Groups and
One Teacher Group were formed. The outputs of the FGD are mentioned below;
Table
3: Focus Group Discussion among Adolescents Issues
|
What are
the main problems in the age of Adolescent?
|
How they
suffering from this issue?
|
|
Lack of personal hygiene Lack
of awareness on menstrual cycle, its diseases
and its management Social
Toboo including Untouchable during the menstrual cycleUnusual
growth of bodyPoor
knowledge on Sex, STD & STILack
of sufficient nutritional food as per the ageAddiction
in social mediaAttracted
towards substance abuse (smoking, alcohol)Attracted
to junk foodSkin
diseasesFrustration
Lack
of career plans Wrong
decisionsEmotional
imbalanceCarelessAngerStress
due to parents expectation levelsChild
/Early marriage in this age leads different physical and mental issues
|
Suffering
with diseases like Infection, Stomach ache, Back pain, Vomiting, WeaknessFace
pale, DepressionStress, HypertensionOver
BleedingIrregular
menstruationOver
growing of private partNight fallMentally
Harassment, Feeling uncomfortableFear to
take initiative, Bad
thought in mindBody
growthSuicide Career hamperSocial
media disturb the career/ study
|
A
focus group discussion among teachers was conducted to find out an alternative
mechanism to overcome the issues in the age of adolescent. The key suggestions
were as follows;
- Awareness camps among the students
on the Shraddha Clinics should be conducted in high school and colleges level
- Technical Expert and Counselor
should be employed at village and educational institutions level
- Women SHGs members should be
involved to make this program more successful
- The benefits of Shraddha
Clinics should be advertised in social media for wider coverage and
dissemination
- Short film/ Documentary video shows should be conducted on adolescent
health issues at school and colleges level for benefit of students
- NSS staff should be involved in
adolescent awareness programmes
- IEC materials on adolescent health
and Shraddha Clinics should be available
in all educational institutions
- Special trainings on Shraddha clinic
should be organized in boarding school
and colleges
- Life skill education should be
provided to all the students as part of their course curriculum
After the FGD presentation, Dr. Rahul Laxman
and staff from District health departments responded to all the questions and
queries from the participants. They provided various practical suggestions and
solutions to overcome the health issues faced by students during the adolescent
period.
All the students took oath to sentisitizea
about Shraddha clinics 20 more students.
“This Workshop was very interactive and educative. It is a good
initiative for the betterment of adolescents” said Dr. Sarita Mishra, Lecturer
Mr.
Saroja Kumar Satapathy, Project Coordinator-VIEWSshared the outcomes of the workshop and gave a vote of thanks to
the guests, resource persons and participants of the workshop. He invited all
the participants to join for lunch and continue individual interaction with the
resource persons.
5. Exposure visit to Shraddha Clinics: After
the lunch break, the participants were divided into 10 groups and taken for
exposure visit to Shraddha Clincks. The
adolescent groups visited the Shraddha clinics located inside the DHH. The
counselor at the Shraddha Clinic interacted with the students and showed them
facilities available in the clinic. She distributed some of IEC materials to
the adolescents and explained the significance and benefits of Shraddha
Clinics. The adolescents interacted actively with the counselor on various
issues related to adolescent health and menstrual hygiene.
After
this workshop, a feedback regarding the workshop was collected from the
participants. The exposure concluded at 4.30 P.M with a vote of thanks from
team VIEWS to officials of the health department and participants from the educational
institutions.
6.
Testimony from the participants
- “We
knew that there is a facility for Adolescent, more people should be made aware
about the facility so that they can access it and get benefitted” said Sagar
Kandhapani.
- We
came to know about the Shraddha Clinic, which is very useful for the adolescent
girls” said Hemanta Bania.
- “We
came to know of the issues faced by adolescents and also that that there is a
facility for counseling and treatment of these” said Krushna Mallik.
