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The Swachh Bharat summer internship program report

The following is the list of students from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute. We have conducted said activities in the Bahour village(West), Puducherry, between June and July 2018 guided by the nodal officer Dr PARTHA NANDI, Vice-Principal (Students Affairs):

  1. Avinash. G
  2. Nitin Katakam
  3. Jai Anand
  4. Kuralarasan
  5. Mullai Ganesh
  6. Ashwin Tomar
  7. Priyanshi Srivatsava
  8. Shantanu Deshmukh
  9. Jeshanth
  10. Sri Sudhan

Information-Education-Communication activities:
Awareness Campaigns
No. of Awareness drives conducted-4
No. of people sensitized- 400
No. of hours spent: 30
Brief Description

  1. The most important awareness campaign that we conducted would be at the Sri Moolanathaswamy Temple in Bahour, involving officials such as The Directors of Local Administration, Agriculture, Public Works Department and the Commissioner of Bahour Commune Panchayat, along with Village Panchayat officials, Local NGOs were present along with the public.
  2. The second campaign was along with a group of waste collection workers of the municipality.
  3. The third activity is at the Government Bahour Primary School which involved awareness about hand hygiene, personal hygiene and open field defecation and various other issues.conducted awareness campaigns after/ during almost all our activities. The type of activities differed with respect to the type of people to be sensitized. We tried to spread awareness where ever we could. We broadly made people aware during the rally, wall painting, movie screening, door to door meetings and during the drawing competition and exhibition we conducted in the primary school.

Methodology:

  1. We made a planned suggested the local government to connect the Bahour main lake with three small ponds behind the temple, which involves establishing a canal gate and would help regulate water levels. We also made the public aware of proper waste disposal, importance of saving water, proper toilet usage, rainwater harvesting technique.
  2. A group of waste collectors of the municipality belonging to Bahour (West) were made aware of their occupational hazards and what steps can be taken to prevent contracting any diseases. We displayed several charts and demonstrated hand washing techniques to be followed. We also explained the importance of separation of their garments while washing and the dangers of washing them along with the garments of their household members.
  3. We have divided ourselves into groups and organised small group discussions with the school students. Each group was made aware of several issues such as problems of open field defecation, the importance of proper toilet usage and health issues regarding improper waste disposal. Charts were stuck all over the school which contained information about the issues mentioned above. Towards the end, a demonstration of proper hand washing technique was made to the school students and prizes were given to the students who have come forward to demonstrate it again for their classmates.
  4. We used different charts made by us and shared our knowledge with the public and communicated with them where ever we could, especially during the above-mentioned events. The methodologies for each event has already been explained under the respective headings.

Door-to-door visits:
No. of households visited- 257(including houses and shops in bahour village )
No. of people sensitized-627 people
No. of hours spent-40 hours
Brief Description- In our Door to door visit initiative, the team approached different houses in hope of talking to families directly in hopes of spreading awareness more effectively about cleanliness and sanitation by using charts. We also distributed pamphlets about health issues due to poor sanitation and hygiene.
Methodology
Our plan was to split the team into five small groups of 2 each. With the help of illustrative charts prepared by the team, we increased public awareness of good sanitary habits and personal hygiene. The main focus was directed towards good sanitation, proper ventilation and discouraging open defecation. We also talked about the public health problem posed by mosquitoes: we educated them on identifying mosquito breeding sites and told them about the measures they could take against the health hazard posed by them. Proper hygiene and hand washing techniques were also illustrated with the help of charts. One member of our team also held a demonstration of the proper steps of hand-washing. The door to door activities lasted for almost 40 hours and a total of 257 households were covered. Additional 5 hours were also spent on the preparation of charts and questionnaires
Conducting village/ school level rallies:
No. of rallies conducted: 1 rally
No. of people sensitized: 18000
No. of hours spent: 7 hours
Brief description:
On the occasion of World Environment Day 2018 (05th June 2018), as a part of our Swachh Bharat Summer Internship Programme, we organised a Village Level Awareness Rally. The theme of the rally was the same as that of World Environment Day 2018: ‘Plastic or Planet?’ and “Swachhata”, to sensitise people to the ever-increasing plastic pollution and the increasingly unhygienic condition of our surroundings. The motto of the rally was to create awareness about the harm caused to ourselves and our environment due to the waste we produce, to promote and motivate people to follow proper waste collection and management, to promote the construction and usage of toilets. Along with us (i.e the Swacch Bharat Summer Programme Interns), various students from MGMCRI, school students of Bharati Higher Secondary School- Bahour, Commune Panchayat officials, local NGOs and the village public participated in the rally. It was a village-school-college rally having 400+ participants.
Methodology-
It was held in Bahour village. We walked through the entire village, holding the various charts and ply-cards that we had prepared, regarding ways to reduce the usage of plastic with tips on efficient ways to recycle plastics. With the help of a van equipped with speakers, we were able to spread messages about general cleanliness, promote use of toilets and encouraged proper waste management to fulfil Mahatma Gandhiji’s dream of a clean India. We hoped to inspire more people to follow us and join our march on the path to a ‘Swacch Bharat’. Additional time was required for making the necessary arrangements for the event.
Wall Paintings on public walls
No. of walls painted – 5
Estimated no. Of people sensitized- 36,983
No. of hours spent- 60 hours
Brief description:
Wall painting was one of the lengthiest and most challenging tasks for us as we were determined to conduct the event without professional guidance. Being MBBS students, we did not have extensive prior knowledge about wall paintings. We selected 5 different walls in three different locations; viz. 2 walls of the centrally located clock tower building opposite to the bus stop, 2 walls of the Bahour commissioner office and 1 wall of the West Bahour Panchayat building. All these walls had different kinds and multiple layers of posters, advertisements, banners, etc, which had been stuck on through the years, which had to be peeled off and cleaned before our work could begin. After preparing our walls, we proceeded to paint
Methodology:
We selected the walls in prime locations to ensure that our message reaches a large number of people. From the locations we have selected, the paintings would be viewed by almost the entire population of Bahour village. We peeled, scraped and scrubbed off the layers of posters and banners stuck on the walls and cleaned all the walls with water and waited for it to dry.
This process took longer than the actual painting. We then proceeded to paint a coat of primer, and after it dried, we painted on two coats of white oil paint to prepare a stable and long-lasting base for our paintings. We selected good, public-friendly designs and drawings which promote cleanliness, good personal hygiene, emphasised the importance of recycling and illustrated the importance of water conservation and the importance of afforestation.
Movie screenings:
No. of screenings organizer: 3 (primary health centre-1 and Primary School 2)
No. of Attendees: 160+86=246 people
No. of Hours spent: 10 Hours
Brief Description :
We and conducted the movie screening at two venues. The Target audience were school going students from the Government School, Bahour, and the people visiting Primary Health-care Centre, Bahour. The idea being in the former group, composing of mostly young children, can inculcate good clean habits at a young age and hopefully abide by them in their future; the latter group, mostly composed of the elderly, can embrace the habits of cleanliness and be more careful and hygienic so that they don’t encounter diseases in future. A question-answer session was held after each and every video so that their doubts were cleared and we obtained a feedback of what they learnt.
Methodology:
We downloaded the videos given in the Swachh Bharat website, as well as a handful of other cleanliness and hygiene-related videos. We borrowed a projector, a screen and speakers from the college. We acquired official permission from the school and the PHC for allowing us to use their premises for movie screening as well as to engage the students and patients respectively as our audience.
We organized three sessions of screening over the span of two days;

  1. One screening in the primary health centre, bahour consisted of several informative videos about how several elements affect the health of the community. Some elements shown in the videos are open defecation, mosquito-related health issues, hand and personal hygiene, the harmful effects of improper waste disposal, the spread of diarrhoea, cholera, etc. The screening along with interactive session lasted for about three hours.
  2. Two screenings were held at the school in a day, each for a group of large students. This screening mostly consisted of several animated videos which portrayed the issues that the children can tackle themselves and help bring about a change in the habits of the adults of the family. Appropriate videos were chosen for each group, as there were children of different age groups in the school. Children who spoke about the videos and answered our questions were given small gifts as a token of appreciation. Additional time was required for the setup of the screen and other equipment.

Solid Waste Management related activities
Waste Collection Drives:
No. of Households/ public spaces waste collected from-214 places
No. of people who participated-20
No. of hours spent-14
Brief description
Waste collection in a proper manner is a crucial component of effective waste management. We joined the municipal workers to observe and learn how waste was handled and even helped do the same. We also distributed masks and gloves as they did not have any: they have been handling all manner of waste with their bare hands. Most of the households did not segregate waste and disposed of different types of waste (recyclable, biodegradable, non-biodegradable) in the same dustbin unsorted.
Methodology
We obtained permission from the concerned authority to go and join the municipal workers for a day to observe and help them with their daily job of collecting waste and segregating it. As we collected waste from households, we sensitised them to the importance of waste segregation for effective waste management. We collected waste from the common dustbins on the streets of Bahour village (West).
Segregation of solid waste:
No. of segregation demonstrations undertaken: 1
Total no. Of people who attended-20
No. of hours spent- 4
Brief description
Waste segregation should be done at the domestic level for increasing the effectiveness of waste management. We spent a day with a few municipal workers to observe the process of waste collection, transportation and segregation. They segregated the waste after collection from the households and neighbouring areas. We discussed issues like occupational hazards, good hygiene with them and decided to teach what we learnt from the workers to the general public.
Methodology: After waste collection, we went with the workers to the waste dumping area where they segregated different types of waste. Plastic bottles and other waste was separated from glass bottles, paper waste and biodegradable waste. They did not have any personal protective wear so we distributed gloves and masks to the workers. As the waste was not segregated at the household level, the workers faced a difficult task of segregating the material after collection, as it was a laborious and methodical process. After helping them for a while, we went to a few households make them aware of the importance of segregation of waste and showed them how to do the same.
Development of Compost Pits:
No. of pits dug-1
No. of community people participated-2
No. of hours spent-6 hours
Brief description-
We dug one compost pit in the primary health centre ground so people living in the PHC quarters nearby could compost their biodegradable waste.
Methodology- We made arrangements to acquire the tools required for digging and dug a large pit. We told the people how a compost pit can be used for disposing of biodegradable kitchen waste and how it is used to produce compost for plants and gardens.
Transportation of household waste (to appropriate disposal sites):
Brief description:
We joined a few municipal workers for the day to help with the collection and transportation of the waste to the waste disposal site and spread awareness about proper waste to the families in the households we were collected waste from. We explained their social responsibility and role in waste management: how important waste segregation at the domestic level was, and how harmful improper disposable of waste was (i.e, along roadsides, open fields, etc).
Methodology:
We collected the waste in a tractor trolley along with municipal workers and transported it to the disposal site where the waste was segregated and disposed of.
Street Cleaning, Drain Cleaning, Cleaning of back alleys:
Length of streets cleaned- 4.5 km sq of area  cleaned (including many public venues)
No. of community participants-188
No. of hours spent-68
Brief description
We cleaned the interiors of the local Bahour Primary health centre as well as the ground/ parking area, the street adjoining the west Bahour panchayat building, adjoining areas of the clock tower, and the street in front of the PHC. We also cleaned a small pond and large bahour lake in the locality as well as a large temple ground near it.
We also cleaned the primary school, sub-treasury, commune panchayat office and the areas near the walls we had painted earlier in our initiative. Even apart from our cleaning drive, we endeavour to clean all the areas we visited during various events. We mainly focused on collecting plastic waste in its varying forms, like wrappers, carry bags, bottles, etc.
Methodology
We borrowed the instruments required from the college. The ground/parking area was littered with different types of plastic waste including bottles and vials of medicines, covers of tablets, etc.  First, we cleared the plastic and other common waste. Then we cleared weeds growing in the vicinity with the help of instruments. A lot of the waste we encountered was medical waste. We handled the waste using proper personal protective equipment: everyone taking part in the cleaning drive wore disposable gloves and masks. After the collection of waste in appropriate disposal bins, with the help of a JCB, we cleared and levelled the ground to prevent stagnation of water. We focused on collecting plastic waste from the areas mentioned above and ensured its proper disposal. Drainage was cleaned by proper instruments from the local administration of bahour.
Other Activity
No. of beneficiaries- 150+525+10+200+150.
Total no. of hours spent- 13 hours
1) Drawing competition in Govt. Bahour Primary School
Brief Description
Students are the future of our country and good habits inculcated in young minds stay for a long time. With this in mind, we decided to spread awareness about cleanliness by organising a drawing competition in the Bahour Primary School on the theme “Swachhtha”, and later displayed their drawings in an exhibition in the school for all the village public.
We had an interactive session with the children, their parents and the school staff regarding “Swachh bharat”. We gave away prizes to the students with the best drawings.
Methodology
We met the school officials and planned to conduct the drawing competition on the day of their parent-teacher meeting so that we could interact with the parents as well to reach more people. We held the drawing competition on the day after we conducted the movie screening so that the children could apply what they had learnt the previous day in their drawings. We provided the chart paper as well as crayons to all the students of the school. The children drew beautiful posters depicting the Swachh Bharat of their dreams and imagination and it was inspiring to see their vision. We also taught the children how to wash hands in a proper manner and the importance of it. We interacted with the parents and spread awareness about the importance of cleanliness and good hygiene.
2.Exhibition in primary school on the theme “Swachhata” as a part of our awareness campaign.
3. Distribution of reusable gloves to garbage workers for personal safety.
4. Distribution of reusable bags to people to decrease the usage of plastic usage in Bahour village (West).
We collected old newspaper from various households and made paper bags with them which were distributed to various outlets in the village. We purchased bags made of cloth and painted them with various designs, these bags were then distributed to various households in the village. During this distribution, we also made the public aware of the nuisance of plastic pollution and the need to recycle in order to save our planet.