City girl’s holistic approach to rural sanitation

“‘Avahan’ means appeal in Sanskrit; a call for help. And it’s our appeal to the people to come forward and spread the message of keeping the society clean and make kids, especially in rural areas, aware about simple steps of basic healthcare regime.”

The ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign has captured, spread and inspired many people to take up the initiative but to what extent has it made its impact, is the real question. There are still uncountable spots in the country, from orphanages to villages, lacking awareness about proper sanitation and hygiene, which can prevent the spread of disease saving lives and protecting communities.

Taking up the responsibility to reach out to the corners of the city, Maleeha Fatima, a student of grade 12 at Nasr School in Khairatabad started a project called “Avahan- an endeavor to help” to benefit underprivileged children in health and nutrition. “‘Avahan’ means appeal in Sanskrit; a call for help. And it’s our appeal to the people to come forward and spread the message of keeping the society clean and make kids, especially in rural areas, aware about simple steps of basic healthcare regime,” says Maleeha.

“This project started as a part of Horlicks Wizkid competition and I quickly grabbed the opportunity to make our nation a better place. Along with my group of volunteers (all belonging to the age group of 16-18), we visited two orphanages and government schools in a village and distributed hygiene kits that we made, which consisted of a toothbrush, toothpaste, a germ killing soap, shampoo sachets, band aid and sachets of a health drink. My aunt, who is a principal of a school in Qatar, helped me with the funds and my family and friends supported me by lending their helping hand,” adds Maleeha.

Explaining the details of the initiative, the 17-year-old says, “The orphanages we covered consisted of sessions where we taught them the correct way to brush and maintain the oral hygiene, how to wash hands and maintain a clean scalp. We gave them tips on how they could maintain good hygiene and how they would be preventing many ailments by doing so.

“A health expert from the State Health Department said that poor personal hygiene is the biggest cause and most school children in rural interiors of the state have very low awareness about personal cleanliness. This takes a toll on their health over a period of time. Skin and oral health are worst affected by poor cleanliness. Lack of nutrition aggravates the problems,” she explains.

“This started as a part of competition but, I want to take this further and be the part of the change that we can make,” asserts Maleeha.