Prachi, a smart 15-years old who lives with her mother and two siblings in Sadar Bazar, Old Delhi first joined Butterflies in 2017. What attracted her was the Child Health and Sports Cooperative (CHSC) philosophy which she aptly sums up. “Be responsible not just for one’s own health but the well-being of others in the wider community, too”.
“After joining the CHSC, I attended interesting sessions on dengue, malaria, life-style diseases, a balanced diet, and the dangers of dehydration. But I was particularly influenced by those on personal hygiene and cleanliness. They made me understand the importance of adopting good hygiene practices not just occasionally but regularly — and getting my family to do the same”.
When her CHSC peers elected Prachi their Child Health Educator (CHE) in 2018, she moved beyond personal health to tackle environmental health. She raised the issue of unsanitary streets at her contact point Bal Sabha meetings. The CHSC collectively decided to hang posters about illegal garbage-dumping throughout the neighborhood and to educate residents on the importance of clean streets. They next lobbied local shopkeepers who agreed to ask their customers to dispose of garbage properly.
During the COVID-19 Prachi got her family and others in her locality to maintain even more rigorous hygiene and sanitation habits. “I continued to use the knowledge gained during my CHE training on frequent hand washing (seven steps taught by didi for a full 20 seconds). We used to disinfect common surfaces to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes and protect ourselves against dengue and malaria but now we do it more rigorously. We routinely wipe down items bought from outside such as groceries and medicines, etc. Occasional scrubbings have become daily. We know that a key to keeping safe from this virus is personal hygiene and cleanliness. My family has also adopted a policy of ‘no outside food.’ Earlier we might avoid street snacks to stay healthy but now we are doing it to keep ourselves safe from the virus as well”, says a confident Prachi.