Hello Readers! We have now completed our 4th week working with the Sehgal Foundation in the villages of Bhajeda, Baraje, and Gehbar. The project team worked on workshops at the two different schools, discussions with the school management, and community meetings about the implementation and microplanning outcome in the communities. Each of us had a different experience. I hope you enjoy!

Natalia

As we move into the final weeks of the internships we see how the pieces of our work are slowly coming together. From the hand sanitation workshops, school meetings, and community conferences we are starting the toilet construction this week and distributing our hand sanitation flyers and materials into the villages.

Tommy

This week has been one of my favorites. We spent a majority of it visiting the three villages in which we surveyed and held sanitation workshops and meetings regarding the Swachh Bharat Mission and sharing the results of our microplan. It was really great to see all of our work done thus far come together to serve a purpose. The energy and feedback we received from the school children and the members of the community was an affirmative validation of the importance of this project. A highlight of mine was being able to sit with one of the school children, a 7 year old boy, after the workshop and talk to him (with the help of our supervisor) about his schooling and his favorite subjects. He was able to count to 100 in Hindi and English and spell some words for us. Our supervisor then told him that he had a bright future and to continue his schooling. It was humbling to see how important education and the opportunity to go to school was for these children. It really puts into perspective how impactful and life changing a solid education can be and how it should not be taken for granted.

Veronica

This week has been an exciting week for us! We held the sanitation workshops at both school which consisted of an interactive game using paint to represent the spread of germs and demonstrations of the proper steps for handwashing. It was very fulfilling to see the positive response and excitement the children had when engaging in the game and handwashing demonstrations. We also shared our results from the microplanning activity we conducted. To give you an example, in the Baroji village 47 of the 98 households do not have toilets. As for the language barrier, it has definitely been a challenge and at times frustrating not to be able to freely communicate with the locals. With the need of translation, you lose a sense of authenticity and the intimacy of direct face to face interaction. That is one of the main things I’ve taken away from this experience. If the people are quick to respond and cooperate with us, the project has the potential to facilitate the construction of toilets in the rest of the village households who lack toilets.

Madison

4 weeks down and 2 to go! The past week was such a great experience as we continued our work in the schools and the community. As we arrived at the 1st school on Tuesday morning, we walked into the classroom to a room full of 60 student ready to learn. The student eagerly volunteered to participate in our paint game (a game where we put paint on the students hands and they begin shaking hands) to show how germs spread so easily and then after they showed how they have been washing their hands we wrapped it up with me demonstrating how to properly wash your hands in front of the class. It was so much fun to watch the students run around in the game and really want to participate in the whole experience. Their school management was eager to work with us in the implementation of the toilets and continue with the sanitation lessons at the school. Like the first school, the second group of 60 students was ready to learn and bravely volunteered to volunteer how to properly wash their hands after the demonstration was over. Working with the kids was so much fun and it was great to see them listen and learn during the workshop. At the community meeting, many women arrived to learn about the completion of the micro planning and the implementation of the toilets. Before the 2nd community meeting we attended began we all had the opportunity to interact with a young mother and her baby. She was so kind and the baby loved it as I played peak-a-boo with him. Once the meeting started I continued to look after and entertain the baby so that the mother could focus on the meeting. I was glad I assisted with baby so that the women could learn more about our purpose here and the next step in the project. This week was definitely my favorite thus far as the project continued to come together.

Estefania

Actions speak louder than words. As cliche as this sounds, this week was my turn to realize how powerful a simple action can be. During our weekly visit to Gherbar, we had the opportunity to show our microplanning maps to the community for them to understand what we had been working on for the past 4 weeks. This demonstration was accompanied by a workshop about the conditions necessary for proper toilet construction. During this workshop, all the panchyat women gathered up and sat down around the speaker in order to listen. Without realizing the impact of what I was about to do, I sat in the circle that had been formed in order to listen too. In my head I was sitting there because there wasn’t enough space in the chairs they had brought for us to sit, but the reaction of many women made me realize that I had done something out of the conventional and they had seen that as a gesture of respect and humbleness. They made me realize that sitting with them on the floor showed that I cared for their culture and was willing to adapt to it. It showed them regardless how different I was, I was also human and relatable. Sometime we might think that our actions are just simple things we carry on every day, but if we stop and look around they might mean the world to those around us.

 

 

As we go into the 5th week of the project we are all excited to see what comes and work on the next step of the project! Thanks for reading 🙂