| Home > CtC worldwide archive > India
____________________________________________________________________
Relevant Background Information
Certain programmes in India were launched at the very beginning of the Child-to-Child movement. These included the widely publicised Malvani Project in the slums of Mumbai. This programme trained children as health assistants to identify and arrange treatment for a number of prevalent diseases such as diarrhoea, scabies and anaemia. In 1986 at a workshop held by CHETNA and funded by the Aga Khan Foundation considerable impetus was given to the movement and during the next years numerous programmes were launched, a national directory was published and a body of material emerged including a simple Resource Book and six readers published by the Voluntary Health Association for India in both English and Hindi. Later translations of Children for Health in both Hindi and Gujarati were produced by CHETNA. Many other translations of activity sheets into Indian languages were also made. The 1996 version of the Child-to-Child directory lists nearly forty programmes using the approach in some way (most of them small in size). Attempts were made to share information between programmes especially in South India where a South India network met frequently in the 1990s.
Yet there were also a number of big programmes including a major school programme in Delhi Municipal schools organised in association with the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), Child-to-Child and Youth-to-Child programmes organised by the Central Health Education Bureau whose Intensive School Health Education Project included Child-to-Child and Youth-to-Child elements and published booklets on both. In the 1990s the Child-to-Child approach also enjoyed very considerable support within the NCERT with successive heads of its primary and pre-school departments serving as Child-to-Child international advisers. Some material such as teachers manuals were produced. The approach thus undoubtedly influenced the national curriculum and practice of health education to some degree.
Child-to-Child also formed and indeed still forms an important element in other important programmes such as SEHAT the School Health Action and Training Project which was active in Delhi and Mumbai from 1994-2002. Useful curriculum materials were produced.
Currently the approach remains influential in many areas of India though slightly less prominent at the national level where approaches to Health Education may have somewhat changed and some would say, narrowed following publication of the new National Framework On Education (2001).
Andhra Pradesh School Health Association (ASHA)
ASHA is a non-government, non-profit organisation registered as a charitable association to promote school health and child-related activities in Andhra Pradesh. Child-to-Child activities began in 1996. In fact, ASHA has been associated with Child-to-Child since 1980, as part of the Andhra Pradesh Voluntary Health Association.
Note 1
SWASTHH
Child-to-Child approaches are part of the SWASTHH (School Water and Sanitation Towards Hygiene and Health) programme in India. This programme is supported by the government and organisations like UNICEF, DFID, SIDA and IRC. This programme is supported by the government and organisations like UNICEF, DFID, SIDA and IRC. The following is an excerpt from a paper presented at the SSHE Global Symposium in the Netherlands entitled “Construction is Not Enough” (June, 2004).
‘SWASTHH – School Water and Sanitation Towards Hygiene and Health– is far more than a construction program. Its global objectives focus both on education and quality of life. SWASTHH was initiated to develop, test and successfully demonstrate replicable models for hygiene education, water supply and environmental sanitation in rural primary schools and Anganwadis. (As is noted below, the SWASTHH programme is also noted by other names in various states.)
The Indian SSHE programme certainly moves beyond construction and focuses more on behavioral change. The strategy to focus on software interventions has become one of the strengths of Indian SSHE programme. This is the most important component of the SSHE effort that includes:
- Health and hygiene activities to promote conditions at school and healthy practices of school staff and children
- Active and trained school management group, and trained teachers
- Consistent use of facilities for hand washing, drinking water and toilet use
- Repair and maintenance of these facilities by the School Management / Parent Teacher Groups
- Cleaning the facilities through roster of responsibilities for children (irrespective of caste and class)
- Health checks ups and de-worming
- Education: life skills education, school themes, curriculum development, classroom teaching, exposure visits, child-to-child activities, etc
- Linking to homes, information activities in community
- Monitoring schools and community.’
Note 3
Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies
CtC training is offered for health professionals and activities with children are being organized in about 130 city slum areas.
Address: Osmania University, Hyderabad-500007
Ph: 91-40-701-8494
Fax: 91-40-701-9321
Contact Person: Dr. D. Rayanna
Note 4
SAMHITHA
The Mother and child Health Programme run by SAMHITHA is guided and supported by the Department of Paediatrics, S.V. Medical College. It is used in 30 villages in the Tirupati area. CtC has been an integral part of the project for more than 10 years.
Date: 2005
Source: CHETNA
Contact Person: Dr. M. Anandam
Address: 13-7-939-G, Korla Gunta, Tirupati-517501, Andhra Pradesh
Note 13
West Bengal Voluntary Health Association
WBVHA first introduced CtC activities after 1991. The programme aims to encourage the idea of health-promoting schools and most of the activities, which are often run in collaboration with other NGOs, take place through government-sponsored private schools, based in Coochbehar and Bankura districts. The children involved in the activities are aged between 9-14 years. Both boys and girls are included. Materials supplied by the Child to Child Trust and the Voluntary Health Association of India are widely used. WBVHA have translated materials originally in English into Bengali.
Date: 2005
Source: CHETNA
Contact: Mr. D. P. Poddar, Executive Director
Note 14
NCERT
The resource book Child-to-Child – An approach to Learning, ed. A. Aarons, H. Hawes with Juliet Gayton (Revised and adapted for Indian Schools by the Voluntary Health Association of India, New Delhi), was cited as one of the resource books that has assisted in the development of the health education programme for the National Curriculum framework. It is described below:
‘Health education has been included in the Natinal curriulucm framweok by the NCERT to bring out an all around development in children so that they are physically healthy, socially useful, economically productive and personally satisfied citizens of the country. Through health education the teacher training institution endeavours to provide future teachers with the knolegde, attutdes and practices and skills necessary to:
- Meet his own health needs
- Provide a safe, sanitary and healthful environment for his students
- Help student teachers meet their physical, social and emotional health needs
- Insist in the prevention and control of communicable and other diseases
- Assist with the planning and implmenetation of school and community health programmes
- Impart adequate and basic health knowledge’
Date: 2005
Note 15
BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India
BAIF was established on August 24, 1967. The BAIF Development Research Foundation is a non-profit voluntary organization whose objectives focus on livelihood, literacy, health and moral values to improve quality of life. Some of the organistion’s major activities include sustainable development through people's participation, reforestation programmes and Child-to-child health care programmes. For more information, please visit the website at www.baif.com or e-mail mdmtc@pn2.vsnl.net.in.
Date: 2005
Contact person: Sujata Kaushu
Address: BAIF Bhavan, Dr. M.D. Nagar, Survey No. 134/1
Warje Malwadi, Pune-411029
Ph: 91-212-369955
Fax: 91-212-366788
Note 16
URMUL Trust
The organization has a CTC programme which involves boys in the age group of 10-14 yrs with an aim to reach out to their peers and community at large. The strategy involves forming Bal Mandals (children's group) working for health concerns like immunization, malnutrition, safe motherhood. The peer educators are trained on CTC principles and approaches and child rights.
Date: 2005
Source: CHETNA
Contact: Dr.Arvind Oza
Sahay
The organization tries to restore to children their rights to food, shelter, clothing, health, education and a future. Leadership and management skills, training Government school teachers to integrate Child –to Child learning processes with formal teaching –learning processes. Applying CTC principles for personality development, environment conservation, literacy, anti tobacco and pulse polio campaigns, community development. They have developed My friend worksheet, Children have active role in environment improvement, They have also developed story books on our school-They deal with problem of girl child, clean safe water, women status, drinking water, cruelty to animals, TB etc. They arrange workshops, form core groups of children for each project area. Results of these interventions have encouraged them very much.
Date: 2005
Source: CHETNA (See current activities)
Contact: Mr. Saradindu Banerjee, Niraj Agrawal
|
