Climate Change

Facilitating Adolescents for Improved Health and Hygiene Practice and Promote Climate Resilient Communities

Purpose of the Project
This intervention is being implemented involving adolescents studying in schools between Standard-V to Standard-VIII across two Government Schools in Baikuntapur area. They are being prepared as ‘Change Agent’ to promote positive behaviour among all the students and also their peers. The specific objectives include:

• To orient the adolescents on basic health care and hygiene practices including menstrual hygiene.
• To sensitize the adolescents and women of their families on impact of climate change and promote tree plantation across their school and neighbourhood.
• To promote kitchen gardening in school and in their own houses involving their parents in the process.

The adolescents play an important role in bringing about meaningful changes within themselves as well as in their own families through behaviour change and also spreading required information among their peer groups. The present climatic condition in Sunderbans region of South 24 Parganas requires collective efforts to save the natural characteristics and also take pertinent action to involve all others in saving the islands from disasters.

Key Strategies to Address the Objectives:
In addressing the above objectives following strategies has been taken up:

• Capacity building and knowledge enhancement
• Climate sensitization and behaviour change
• Promotion of nutrition garden
• Community based tracking by adolescents
• Collective monitoring in each school through a monitoring team comprising of two girls, one boy, one teacher, one representative from BSSK and concerned Gram Panchayat member.

Proposed Activities
The project includes following activities involving the adolescents, parents, school teachers and Gram Panchayat representatives. The specific activities would be facilitated by the Field Facilitators of BSSK. The activities include:

• • Orientation of the adolescents on basic health & hygiene practices. These sessions would be conducted across the two schools both theoretically and practically for 3 times in a year.
  • Possibilities would be explored to have two practice sessions among the students for consistent effort to sustain the entire intervention.
  • Orientation of adolescent girls on menstrual health and hygiene practices and these sessions would be conducted 8 times over the year covering two intervention schools.
  • Sensitization of students on climate change scenario and its effect on their lives through classroom orientation.
  • Wall painting using drawing, poster making and messages on climate change issues for wider sensitization across the communities.
  • Observation of World Environment Day and Global Hand Washing Day. Essay and quiz competition would also be organised on this two special day observation.
  • Promotion of kitchen gardening in the two schools using bio-manure and the produce from the kitchen garden would be used for preparing mid-day meal in the schools for the students.
  • Involve parents in the process of kitchen gardening using chemical free organic bio-inputs so as to initiate the same at their own houses.
  • Community based tracking by the adolescent group members to ensure enrolment and all other children in the communities and ensure their retention. The tracking process would also follow up with the students for home-based hygiene practices.
  • Monthly review and quarterly reflection process to be followed in each of the intervention school to measure the progress and other issues of concern.