DONATION FOR COVID-19 RELIEF WORK
Project Initiatives
1) Supplementing the PDS (Ration) given by the Government
2) Counseling for Covid affected families
The work carried out is given below.
1) Supplementing the PDS (Ration) given by the Government:
We carried out a pre-survey to find the really needy families. Forty five of our volunteers met the actual affected families themselves rather than depending on opinions or information of other people. They met Katkari families (fishermen caste), senior citizens, direct Covid affected families and single women families. This survey covering 53 villages was carried out within 4 days. It revealed to us that the number of families in desperation was significantly greater than what we had thought and in fact there were 526 needy families.
(The proposal to B & K Securities was for 300 kits only and because of the discount 322 families received the kits from B & K Securities funding. Since there were more needy families, we approached more donors and provided kits to all the 526 families identified).
After the survey we tabulated the required items as well as quantities. It turned out to be at least 2 Tons of material. We visited the wholesale market in Pune with this list and placed the orders. A couple of shops gave us a special 5 % discount when they came to know our cause. All this 2 Ton or more material was then transported to Prabodhini building and unloaded by our Young Volunteers. They also helped us with the tedious work of unpacking, sorting and packing into small kits. This work itself took 4-5 days. Because of such active support from our large volunteer base, we do save a lot of money in any project, so that most of the money goes to the beneficiaries.
The kits were taken to the villages in various vehicles with help from teenagers from those villages. Once the kits reached various villages our village coordinators took custody and personally handed them over to the needy families.
| Village-wise kits Distribution | ||||||||
| Sr. No | Village name | Kits | Sr. No | Village name | Kits | Sr. No | Village name | Kits |
| 1 | Askavadi | 16 | 15 | Gelgani | 10 | 29 | Pali | 1 |
| 2 | Adavali | 15 | 16 | Guhini | 2 | 30 | bhordi | 8 |
| 3 | Ambavane | 4 | 17 | Ghisar | 1 | 31 | Asani | 1 |
| 4 | Ikhartimbi | 3 | 18 | Dhebewadi | 4 | 32 | Malekar Vadi | 1 |
| 5 | Katavadi | 9 | 19 | Chandavane | 43 | 33 | Margasani | 10 |
| 6 | Kumbale | 9 | 20 | Jorkarwadi | 4 | 34 | Velhe | 17 |
| 7 | Kusgav | 4 | 21 | Jadhavwadi | 1 | 35 | Raidandwadi | 5 |
| 8 | Kusarpeth | 7 | 22 | Dhanep | 8 | 36 | Vihir | 7 |
| 9 | Kelad | 6 | 23 | Nigade | 3 | 37 | Velhe Bud. | 13 |
| 10 | Kondavali | 10 | 24 | Pabe | 11 | 38 | Sakhar | 14 |
| 11 | Kondhavale | 13 | 25 | Nivi | 2 | 39 | Hirpodi | 8 |
| 12 | Kodapur | 8 | 26 | Bhatti | 8 | 40 | Sonde Mathana | 2 |
| 13 | Khambwadi | 12 | 27 | Pasali | 4 | 41 | Sonde Jadhav | 2 |
| 14 | Khopi | 9 | 28 | Bhaginghar | 1 | 42 | Hirve Vasti | 6 |
| Total 42 Villages. Kits Distributed 322 | ||||||||
2) Counseling for Covid affected families:
Usually counseling takes place in urban setting, but this time Covid made so many people so depressed and gloomy that we decided to provide counseling to those families who were directly affected by Covid (family members so Covid positive people or those who lost someone to Covid). As per the proposal we wanted to train 25 field workers in counseling and reach out to about 500 people.
We appealed to 70 of our coordinators to take training and offer counseling. Forty of them came forward to take training. They were given counseling training on-line by professional counselors free of charge. After going through this intense, emotionally charged training, not a few felt that they could not bear to talk to people who were facing tremendous hardship. So out of the 40 who took training, 26 conducted the actual counseling. Among these 26, there were 6 Asha workers. (Asha workers are govt. approved health workers in villages). We realized that even they were not given any formal training as to how to counsel the Covid affected people. The actual counseling was conducted between 12th May and 24th June.
Counseling in Numbers:
- 26 trained counselors, Most of them talked to people that they already knew
- 505 people provided counseling
- 64 villages covered
- 60 % of the counseling sessions were in person, 40 % over phone
- Average 20 minutes per counseling session
- 57 % people in the working age group, 26 to 60 years of age
- Many were young kids (3 to 8 ages) who had lost a family member to Corona
Findings and effects of counseling sessions:
Amongst the adults there were nearly 53 % women and 47 % men. In rural setting men talking to women and especially on such serious matters is itself an achievement! In almost all of the cases (88 %) the counselors noted that some further action/counseling was necessary.
As was the case all over India, people were afraid of keeping contact with the Corona positive persons and their families. Many affected families were treated as outcasts even after a family member recovered from Covid and returned home from hospital/quarantine. So even getting ration or grocery was very very difficult for them. So under such circumstances our counselors and their work proved to be very useful. They were also locals, and unafraid to approach Covid affected families. So their presence and overall calmness created conducive atmosphere for the neighbours to approach affected families without fear.
We also received feedback from the counselors that their counseling sessions helped many above age 60 gather courage to go and get vaccine shots. During counseling, many counselors felt that these were needy families and so we provided them with the ration kits, as per the First activity of this project. The counselors really took their work to heart and took ownership of this activity. The work they carried out was very very useful and people really appreciated their work. Thus it helped the counselors too. Not only their self-esteem enhanced but so was their prestige in the village.
Details of the Initiatives
Sponsor : B & K Securities, Mumbai
Period : 3 Months, planned. Completed between May 10 to July 10
Budget : Rs.12, 80,000/-
We finished this Project within 2 months rather than 3 months as planned because the need was very sever and urgent and we were helped by a large number of young people.
