‘Sanitation is more important than independence’

Did you know that more than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene- related issues? Of the 60 million people added to the world’s towns and cities every year, most move to informal settlements like slums with access to no sanitation facilities. 780 million people lack access to an improved water source. 

Importance of Clean water and Sanitation 

Three things most of today’s world’s population cannot do: 

1. Take a hot shower, 
2. Get access to clean water, 
3. Flush away last night’s dinner. 

Today a greater number of people have a mobile phone than a toilet. Shocking, isn’t it?

 In the year 2013, my school celebrated the United Nations World Water Day. As the survey head of the project, my team and I visited slums, residential and corporate complexes, a children’s hospital and an agricultural fair to understand the water problems these sectors were facing. Out of all the others, my visit to the various slums of Mumbai exposed me to a side of my city that I had never seen before. Open sewage channels ran along the length of the narrow lanes, with houses so close to each other that there was hardly any space to walk. The repulsive stench emerging from these channels made me feel a little nauseous. It surprised me how the residents of the slums were totally oblivious to it. When I told them how unhygienic it was to have an open sewage right outside their house, they said, ‘ये तोह चलता है ’, - This is completely fine. The concept of sanitation and hygiene was miles away from them. This experience made me realize that there is a dire need for awareness within the people.

In the midst of several pressing issues like corruption, human trafficking, the economic crisis, terrorism, etc. India may have lost focus on something as basic as water and sanitation. As Mahatma Gandhi once rightly said, ‘Sanitation is more important than independence’. Inadequate sanitation and hygiene is a major cause of diseases worldwide.I believe that sanitation is a noble and important mission for this nation.

The existence of such sanitation and hygiene issues in India is due to India’s huge and growing population, which is putting a severe strain on all of the country’s natural resources. Statistically speaking, majority of the water sources are contaminated by sewage and agricultural runoff. On a brighter side, India seems to have made some progress in the supply of safe water to its people, but there persists to be a gross disparity in coverage across the country. In India, diarrhea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily. What is lacking in this nation is awareness and education. I strongly support the fact that only awareness and education can take us a step forward towards either alleviating or even as far as eradicating several problems faced by us today.

Sanitation is the basic human right. Then why are women in particular going through a major sanitation crisis? Why do women have to walk miles to fetch water, in turn giving up on their right to education? Why do women struggle most from the lack of adequate sanitation? In many countries, women are not permitted to relieve themselves during the day. This has a major impact on the health of the women, risking the accumulation of toxins in their blood stream. 

Sanitation is a human right 

About half of all girls worldwide attend schools without toilets. The lack of privacy causes many girls to drop out when they reach puberty.The question I want to ask here is- why this discrimination? Sanitation is essential for one and all, whether a man or a woman. An increase in the sanitation and hygiene access of women can lead to several positives. Increase access leads to an increase in the rate of education of girls, improved health for women and girls, reduced child and mother mortality rates, reduction in any form of physiological injury, increase in the status quo of women and also provision of new employment opportunities of women. 

But a lack of access and the dual aspects of the water crisis – lack of water and of sanitation – lock women in a cycle of poverty.The water crisis is interlinked with the sanitation and hygiene concern prevalent in the world. Water is a scarce resource, which has become a source of conflict, instead of being a catalyst of building new connections. Sanitation and hygiene can be tackled by increased awareness and equality. Educating women about can indirectly lead to educating thousands of other individuals.

At CACR we screened short animation films on the necessity of hygiene and sanitation during the cleanliness week in municipal schools of Mumbai. After the screening lot of parents and students asked us questions on proper ways to store water in their houses, use disinfectants to keep their toilets and houses germ free and improve their health by various hand-washing techniques.As a organization working to promote education and health in school going kids , we remain committed to awareness creation on pertinent issues like clean water and  sanitation, hygiene -WASH. 

So please join hands with us to do your bit by becoming a change agent to promote healthy living. 

 -by +Meesha Gandhi , is a social media intern with CACR , a education non-profit based in Mumbai ,India. 
Edited by +Richa Singh 

References:
YOU TUBE VIDEO : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCid_6o8_t8Vx7oZUFGi5BnA
http://water.org/water-crisis/womens-crisis/

http://water.org/

Source:  https://whatstartslikeafireburnslikeone.wordpress.com/

CACR works to improve the quality of education and health of school children in municipal (inner city) schools
Facebook : www.facebook.com/CitizensAssociationForChildRights

Children's Day with a difference: Our exciting week in photos

Children's Day in India is celebrated on November 14th every year. 
This year  the celebrations had a new theme : Clean India -Clean Schools   

The Clean India Campaign was launched by Indian PM Mr Modi on Mahatma Gandhi's Birth Anniversary October 2nd. 
Cleanliness -A very basic lesson really. Something we all were taught in 1st Grade in School.
But as it happens with most basic things, when we grow up we tend to forget to practice them in real life. 

Mr Modi leads the way by cleaning the street

Day #1] The Cleanliness week was flagged off in the Municipal (inner city) schools of Mumbai by State Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr Fadnavis on Children's Day

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis forth person from left in front row.

To bring about a change at home both the stakeholders-Parents and students should be involved


Day #2 ] CACR decided to be part of this movement by involving citizens, students and their parents in this program.

CACR member  talking to parents on Clean Food and Clean Water 

We started by creating short videos and poster videos that will be relayed in 480 schools via Virtual e-learning studios

 How can the Children's Day be complete without Fun and Games

students playing games on Handwashing

Posters Made by students on Children's Day 

Day #3] Health Talk with Doctors on Nutrition and Disease Prevention 

over 150 students and Parents participate in Health Q&A with Dr Richa 

Day #4]  Two Comic Plays on Cleanliness, Sanitation and Hygiene 

Scenes from the play on Cleanliness

Day #5] Students write open Letters to the Additional Municipal Commissioner on their views on Cleanliness 

Rishikesh writes about Cleanliness in his school and Locality 

Day #6] The Children Record messages for PM Modi in support of his mission Clean India 

End to an exciting week!

Members of child parliament take cleanliness Oath 

Scenes from the social street play

Newspaper article about our Cleanliness week  

+Richa Singh  is a team member of CACR , an education nonprofit startup working to improve education and health in corporation schools. 

Her twitter handle is @Richa_Doc

Clean India Mission : It starts with ME

Before I start with this post, I would like to thank our Government for the “ स्वच्छ  भारत  अभियान  (Swach Bharat Abhiyan) - The Clean India Mission campaign that highlights the need to protect our heritage and to curb the problem of waste. With the world facing recession and unemployment, civil wars and migration, this issue has taken a backseat. The new Government of India has understood that lack of cleanliness is a existing problem and if measures are not taken it can snow ball into disasters in the future.

I am not going into deep discussion on the faults of the Government; rather I will concentrate on the Why’s.

I started observing my surrounding while traveling and working to understand the depth of this problem. The common kinds of waste that are found on the streets are:

1. Chocolate wrappers/tickets/ready-to-eat packages: Our minds are tuned in such a way that our hands automatically throw the wrapper without realizing our location.
2. People defecating/urinating/spitting: Spitting is such a common problem that it feels like everyone is suffering from Tuberculosis -TB. Some are addicted to the point that with every step they take, they spit. If you are a regular train traveler in India then people defecating/urinating/spitting is a common occurrence to the extent that our minds do not even register it.
3. Fruit skins: Fruits are good for health so are fruit skins for us and the environment. Do you know orange skin wards off mosquitoes and banana peels unclog sewage? 
4. Leftovers: This is the most common waste. Since it smells and attracts insects, the best way of disposing is throwing on the streets, right?
5. Leaves: Depends on the weather. Currently it is winter so I see the roads filled with dead leaves and stems.
6. Pamphlets: They are the cheapest way to advertise and most expensive loss of paper.

Now let’s focus on the scene of the crime:

1. Railway Station
2. Restaurant/street vendors
3. Public places, monuments, gardens, and zoos
4. Pilgrim/tourist places

The reasons of the crime:

1. Emergency
2. No dustbins in the vicinity
3. No toilets in the nearby area, existing toilets stink or are the breeding homes of the world’s most popular diseases
4. Apathy to ones surrounding atmosphere
5. False beliefs:My Nation is NOT my home, so as long as my home is clean why bother?
6. Old bad habit of littering 

Now who are the people who commit this crime? Practically everyone- from men to women, rich to poor, young to old; all are equal participants.

Poster made by a school child on cleanliness 

The current situation reminds me of Pareto’s principle - The 80:20 Rule. 80% of the waste is caused by us, citizens, while 20% is the negligence of Government. We keep our homes clean, but not our surroundings. We throw garbage on the roads, yet we blame the Government. We have maids to keep our homes clean, which does not mean we keep our homes  dirty considering the maid will clean it up. In the same way, though we have Government employees to clean the road, then why are the roads still unclean?

 We see pets taken for strolls and the animals conducting their business on the pavements or public gardens. Those with no access to toilets conduct their morning routines on rail tracks or footpaths. Is the Government to be blamed for all our actions? We can buy expensive TVs, mobiles, vehicles irrespective of our status but we are unable to contribute for building toilets in our locality.

The Government needs to be blamed for not providing adequate number of dustbins or toilets. The Government is responsible for not maintaining the toilets and not closing those that are managed improperly. The Government is responsible for replacing old or broken dustbins and for cleaning the toilets.We are responsible for controlling our actions and for finding suitable disposal methods. If a disease has gripped the locality,the reason lies in the waste we throw that clogs the sewage and the bacteria and other microorganisms that grow there and multiply.

 The Government is responsible for not picking the garbage daily, for not removing the waste that fill the roads, or for cleaning the sewage.We are responsible for teaching our children to throw wrappers on the street if there is no dustbin. We are responsible for teaching them to urinate on the rail tracks or the corner of the road if there are no toilets nearby. We are responsible for throwing fruits on the rail track after eating it lavishly in our first/second class compartment.

Pilgrim/tourist places are most common places where people come in groups and litter in tons. Government is responsible for not placing dustbin at equal intervals based on the number of tourist every year. We are responsible for not keeping waste bags to collect the waste and dispose it off once we find the dustbins.

We cannot only blame illiteracy or Government for these offences. Both literate and rich people are equally involved in perpetrating one of the above offences.

Children and teachers cleaning their own school playground during cleanliness week  

“CACR had organised many events for creating awareness and educating parents and children on cleanliness and waste management from  13^th to 19^th November through skits and other innovative programs. Children also contributed by writing open letters  to the Additional Municipal Commissioner, City and Education  (read here) for making the city clean”

We hope through these endeavors  the future generation learns the importance of waste management and do not allow history to be repeated. It is important for us to be educated and rational, but it is equally important for all of us to be clean people.

We can come up with a number of solutions but the most important is to consider littering and spitting as an offence. We need to fine people as well as charge them with community service to make them understand the bitter realities.

It’s easy to compare our country with other countries and blame the Government for inefficiencies. The irony of the situation is that while traveling to foreign countries we are epitome of model citizens, but within our own country we are repeated offenders of our environment.

The Government has already executed the first step of their strategy, i.e. Creating Awareness. Advertisements and influential people  from all walks of life are contributing to spread the message of “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. 

The next step is ours . Remember : Prevention is better than Cure.

The last step is of the Government for appropriate Waste Collection and Management. 

Lets do our duty and the Government will follow. 

--by JZ, a volunteer with Citizens Association for Child Rights a education non profit startup working to improve quality of health and education in municipal schools of Mumbai