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Author: Smile Editorial Team

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Smile

World Health Day 2020 – Cheering Medical Workers

Compassionate Patient Care: The Power of Empathy in Healthcare 
Compassionate Patient Care: The Power of Empathy in Healthcare 

The “World Health Day” is observed on April 07 every year. One cannot help thinking of this year’s tagline “Support nurses and midwives”. Aptly considered in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the crucial role played by nurses in ensuring a healthy society is highly underscored. India is also reeling the effects of COVID-19 as medical workers in hospitals try to deal with the novel disease. In a scenario such as this, World Health Day must be celebrated to applaud the efforts of the masses but most importantly of our medical workforce.

 

A Salute to India’s Nurses

 

Services by nurses are mostly ignored. This is because many people do not realize the extent to which doctors collaborate with nurses before making any clinical decisions. With more people flocking to hospitals to seek relief from the disease, nurses are finding themselves at the sharp end of patient care. The fact that they are at the forefront of the war on coronavirus underscores their valuable contribution to maintaining the society’s health. This World Health Day, we join to applaud the selfless efforts our nurses put into their services.

 

 

Stalling Migrant Exodus

 

The economy is in a crippled state as all businesses have closed their operations due to the government-mandated lockdown. The daily wage laborers who lost their sources of income were forced to walk back to their villages located far away from the cities. Sudden wage loss aggravated their already deplorable condition as fear of economic crisis loomed large on this hapless lot.

 

Though the government has no official count of the informal working class scrambling to return to their villages, the recent migrant exodus at the inter-state borders struck at the collective conscience of society. This prompted the government and non-government organizations to take scurried steps in providing them food and shelter.

 

Relying on NGO Support

 

As per an advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the states have been urged to consult various non-government organizations (NGOs) and utilize their services to ensure migrants with a constant supply of food and adequate shelter facilities. Lost and stranded laborers are now dependent on government aid and charities’ help. Some NGOs are now distributing food packets and sanitizers to homeless people while many have partnered with health care centers to ensure their appropriate screening. While alleviation of their imminent state of penury may not be possible, timely support with food and sanitary facilities have furthered the workers’ well-being while lessening their vulnerability to diseases.

 

A Two-pronged Initiative

 

To mitigate the existing crisis, the Smile Foundation (with its headquarters in Delhi) has adopted a targeted approach to reach out to 1,50,000 families by taking care of their food requirements while educating them about strategies and measures advised by the government. The “COVID-19 Programme” designed to take care of essential needs can be defined as a “two-pronged approach”.

 

 

Approach 1: Provision of dry ration: Through this initiative, the migrant families would be secured against possible goods security in the event of the sudden virus epidemic. Coronavirus cases have risen sharply in the last 24 hours amidst fears that the estimated numbers of those affected may be higher. This underlines the need to avail these people with foods and other items of everyday use. The dry ration ingredients would be distributed in various phases with the initial phase benefiting migrant families in the coming month and would consist of rice, dal, salt, oil, sugar, masks, sanitary pads to name a few and other essential commodities.

 

Approach 2: Health awareness initiative: Experts fear that three out of 10 migrants may be potential carriers of the virus. To counter the possible spread of this virus and to educate the illiterate about safety measures, teleconsultation would be provided to people dispersed across affected areas of the country. The foundation would make use of the pervasiveness of mobile and internet use to provide vulnerable populations with online medical assistance. Besides, these people would be educated about ‘Social Distancing’ and ‘Self Quarantine’ through digital means.

 

Smile on Wheels

 

The foundation had commenced its services to spread awareness about this disease and equip people with lifesaving information on hygiene and quarantine even before the first case of COVID-19 appeared in the country. More than 180 health care personnel were working on the field to spread awareness among the masses every day through the foundation’s mobile unit “Smile on Wheels” in 19 states across the country. Nearly 1000 communities benefited from this programme as doctors, nurses and paramedics explained to them the urgency of the situation and advised on measures to prevent spreading the virus to others.

 

While there is no vaccine or treatment against COVID-19, Smile Foundation is confident that timely help and a mass effort through responsible action can contain the virus from spreading and overwhelming for the country.

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In The Spotlight

Help the Poor, Support the Underprivileged

Help the Poor, Support the Underprivileged

“Be kind” is common advice that our teachers and parents imparted us when we were small. Too colloquial in use, the word “kindness” never seemed to strike a chord except during highly adverse circumstances. Small and big acts of kindness have gained ubiquity as the world is grappling to come to terms with the coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed more than 30,000 lives and infected nearly 6,50,000 across all countries. The government-mandated “21 Day Lockdown” has forced businesses to close, thus, sending the economy in a slump. Among the hardest hit are labourers and the daily wage earners dependent on their everyday earnings for their survival. While timely intervention by both the Central and State Governments his trying to help the poor and have helped take care of adopted slums across the country, many families and non-government organisations have come forward to feed the security guards, labourers and daily wage earners in their cities. Many start-ups have partnered with charitable trusts to support their gig workers and independent contractors on their platforms to face the coronavirus crisis.

 

Kind Acts from behind the Scenes

 

Not all kind acts, especially by children, grab the attention of the public. And, yet there are acts of profound magnanimity that put to shame even the most cynical minds. Such charitable acts announced to help the poor, help the nation navigating an unprecedented crisis or serve the world unbiased of prejudice have been dubbed as “pro-social behaviours” by experts.

 

Continued contributions towards the “Assistance and Emergency Situation Relief Fund” announced by the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has underscored the true spirit with which the nation stands together to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. The fund created to allow people from all walks of life towards a healthier India has resulted in many individuals, trusts and organisations donating to help India prepare for a potential plague-like situation. As the government announced multiple payment mechanisms through which one can make donations, many people have quietly donated a day’s earnings to help the poor while the more enthusiastic have gladly parted with their monthly incomes.

 

 

Realising the Joy of Giving

 

As India quietly prepares itself for a possible Stage-3 epidemic, many industrialists and boardroom tycoons have come forward to help the government scale up its health infrastructure. State governments are gearing up to ramp their existing capacity for testing, treatment and isolation, given the sudden spike in coronavirus cases. Citing the grave situation that the country may have to face in the coming months, the Tata Trusts has pledged Rs. 500 crores towards timely deployment of urgent emergency resources. Anil Agarwal from Vedanta has pledged Rs. 100 crores while many MPs have promised their MPLAD funds.

 

Many companies in India have pitched in to make masks and sanitizers apart from contributing to various relief funds. For example, Diageo India has promised to manufacture in bulk at least 3,00,000 litres of hand sanitizers across its multiple manufacturing units to cope with the country’s growing demand apart from donating 1,50,000 masks to five state public departments. As states face the need to arrange for more medical facilities, the HN Reliance Foundation Hospital has offered to set up medical facilities to ease the quarantine process for travellers from other countries. Besides, the Reliance Foundation has offered initial support of Rs 5 crores to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. As food rationing for the entire lockdown period is a matter of concern, the foundation has partnered with many NGOs to avail free meals to help the poor people across many cities.

 

Doctors and other health care professionals are at a greater risk of contracting the disease from their patients. To aid in their treatment, Reliance Industries has decided to ramp up its production capacities to produce 100,000 masks every day along with other protective gear for medical professionals, “essential” workers and pharmacists at various hospitals. PayTm Founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, has also pledged Rs. 5 crores towards the development of medical solutions to fight the potential epidemic.

 

Applauding the Socialist Mindset

 

Simple acts of kindness need not translate to fanfare and attention-grabbing headlines in newspapers and social media platforms. The idea is to share among those who need our urgent support, help the poor who are the most affected.

 

Joining the force with these respected agencies to help and assist in fighting the Coronavirus epidemic with empathy and executing the same efficiently, Smile Foundation is working towards providing dry food rations to people who have lost their livelihood due to the mandatory lock-down.

 

 

Smile Foundation is also undertaking the action to not leave behind its existing beneficiaries during this critical period and will provide teleconsultation to them to keep a track of their health. People will be connected with digitally by Smile on Wheels agents and a record of their health conditions will be maintained. They will also be referred to a doctor or medical institution in case of a medical emergency.

 

Coronavirus, is not just a fight with an invisible enemy but also the test of the humanity. A situation like this requires us all support each other, to come together to help the most helpless overcome the difficulties alongside ourselves. This disease is taking a toll on the mental state of every individual and that will have more significant on people than the physical complications that come with the disease.

 

However, it can be fought it we all do our part ; support and contribute towards helping the helpless. Together, we all can come over this situation as better and stronger individuals.

 

To help/support Smile Foundation in this cause you can visit: https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/smile-fights-covid19/

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Smile

Aiding Migrant Workers amid COVID-19 lockdown

Aiding Migrant Workers amid COVID-19 lockdown

When India was put under complete lockdown for 21 days on March 24, 2020, to break the chain COVID-19 transmission, it became an inconvenience for everyone. Amid everything in the current chaos, the worst affected were the migrant workers on daily-wage labor in major cities across the country. The following days witnessed a mass exodus of people with no source of income, no shelter, no food, no water and no means of transport traveling on foot to reach their homes.

 

The lockdown has brought more than 139 million migrant workers on-road walking as many as 800 km to reach their hometowns. These people who earn as less as $1 a day through manual labor in the cities are now left with nothing to stay while most of them have been evicted by their landlords for defaulting to pay their rents.

 

With millions of people on the road, the risk of transmission of the virus is extremely high. The Government of India has estimated that 3 out of 10 people might carry the virus to their native places from the cities. To curb this from happening all means of transports were shut on March 24 and these people were left facing unimaginably difficult circumstances.

 

 

To bring the country and its people out of this dystopian situation, all of us need to work together. Each of us who has the resources must contribute towards helping the people left without any source of income and facing an acute lack of food and water. People privileged enough to have the option of working from home can manage to make through these highly difficult times by staying in isolation. But there is no option of working from home for millions of people who have no home at the moment.

 

In a bid to aid these people to make through the lockdown and prevent them from causing a massive outbreak across the country, the Government has set a PMCare fund to provide relief resources to the migrant workers. This includes providing the people with shelter, food, water and every necessary amenity required to survive the 21-day long lockdown.

 

Smile Foundation is also working relentlessly towards doing its part in providing relief to underprivileged people by providing them with dry food items. The kit will consist of food, medicines, soap, and sanitizer for people to maintain both health and hygiene. In addition to this, teleconsultation of the existing beneficiaries of Smile’s health vertical will be conducted to keep a track of their health. People will be connected with digitally by Smile on Wheels agents and a record of their health conditions will be maintained. They will also be referred to a doctor or medical institution in case of a medical emergency.

 

The lockdown has made it difficult for Smile to look after its beneficiaries but we strive not to let them be alone in this fight against the invisible enemy that has taken the world by storm. A situation like this requires us all to come together to help the most helpless overcome the difficulties alongside ourselves.

 

Let’s join the movement to fight COVID-19 together and make healthier and happier India!

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Smile

Mental Health during COVID-19 Meltdown

Mental Health during COVID-19 Meltdown

There is more to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) than what meets the eye. The palpable symptoms of the disease are being battled through effective medical care; however, its pervasive effect on one’s mental health is still being debated. The promotion of mental health during Covid-19 has largely remained neglected in India. While organizations pledged to humanitarian causes like child rights or donating towards poor children’s education in India are plenty, a lot many have failed to seek a collaborative model of care for all children, especially, those exposed to traumatic life events like deaths of loved ones during an epidemic.

 

21-Day Lockdown may Spur Mental Imbalance

 

The rampant spread of COVID-19 among most nations has resulted in more than 5,00,000 people getting infected and nearly 23,000 deaths to date. In India alone, the number of people getting treated for the disease has gone up to 753 while 20 have succumbed to its effects. With no effective drug or vaccine in place to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare workers and leaders of various countries have urged people to avoid close and personal interactions.

 

India entered a phase of total lockdown till April 14, 2020, following a sudden spike in coronavirus cases as many people jumped essential quarantine measures while more people returning from already affected countries tested positive for the disease. The resulting economic slowdown has hit most Indian workers very hard, especially, the daily wage laborers. This has triggered anxiety and depression in many people that may largely go unnoticed or unresolved due to limited access to mental healthcare facilities.

 

Uncertainty in Living Affects Mental Health of Many

 

As businesses close and people are forced to live in forced isolation, talking about potential effects on their mental health has become imperative. Restriction on movement has left many people stranded and bereft of essential needs like food, water, and transportation facilities back to their families. Adding to the difficulties arising from financial distress, news websites discussing the rising epidemic situation and social media platforms debating on the possible deterioration of existing conditions are likely to take a toll on young minds who would view life with pessimism and continued fear of death.

 

Social Distancing Marring Social Support

 

Every society thrives on social support derived from social togetherness. Mental health during Covid-19 is largely affected due to the isolation of people. The government’s appeal to practicing physical distancing has wrongly been translated to social distancing, thus, leaving a void in many people’s lives.

 

 

News of many patients contemplating suicide due to comorbidity of depression with the disease is getting increasingly common. Chances of stress are more for people subject to quarantine with illiterate and unsupportive family members. The heightened sense of anxiety has resulted in an increasing number of people complaining of frequent headaches, nightmares, panic attacks and continued feelings of exhaustion. Doctors treating patients for long hours have often complained of the agony of trying to look for possible cures despite having only a partial understanding of the disease. The rights of children are at times violated as people struggle to survive within limited means.

 

Adhering to Regulations and Recommendations

 

While the World Health Organisation has shared guidelines to maintain mental health during Covid-19, simple lifestyle changes like stretching of muscles and trying simple yoga exercises can have a miraculous effect on one’s health and fitness. Inducing small alterations to your diet can benefit one in the long run. While adjusting to a new routine suddenly may seem difficult, making small tweaks to your daily lifestyle may help. Some of these include:

 

Set a daily routine: Languishing on a sofa or bed will only invite boredom and unwarranted negative thoughts. It helps to make a list of activities that you had missed out during your hectic schedule and then set a routine to accomplish them one by one.

Work from home: Being focused on your work helps to retain sanity. However, while working from your home, choose a space with ample light and ventilation to keep your creative juices flowing.

Take care: Tired of dark spots and blemishes on your face? Well, this forced quarantine may be a good opportunity to try on some new face packs or indulge in cleaning and scrubbing of your old dead skin to give way to a fresh and clear looking skin.

Stay connected: Physical isolation does not mean that you must be cut off from the rest of the world. Use online mediums to stay connected with your friends and loved ones.

 

 

In sync with the state regulations and requirements, Smile Foundation is striving to provide its services remotely to its beneficiaries. Given the current situation, the mental and physical health of the people needs constant attention. Addressing the same, Smile is conducting teleconsultation of all its beneficiaries, this includes regular follow-ups on an individual’s health, maintaining a steady record of the patient’s and referring them to a doctor or medical institution when needed.

 

Whenever difficulties like Covid-19 arise, it is the poorest who lose not only the source of income but also the aid they get from various NGOs and agencies working towards their betterment. Smile will ensure that this doesn’t happen and intends to continue its work of bringing quality healthcare to people’s homes with the help of technology. Social and physical distancing doesn’t have to result in emotional distancing as well. Smile will continue to strengthen its emotional bond with its beneficiaries and serve them well in this critical hour of need.

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Smile

COVID-19 & its Effects on Mental Health

COVID-19 & its Effects on Mental Health

Coronavirus disease or COVID-19, as it is known as taken the world in its clutches with the number of infected crossing the mark of 460,000 and that of dead 21,000. One-third of the world has been put under strict lockdown in a bid to tackle the disease which has no cure or vaccine.

 

In a situation, where almost all of the population is confined to their houses and doctors and healthcare workers are risking their lives while treating the affected, mental health suffers in an unexpected way.

 

 

With the number of cases increasing every day and easy access to the latest news, it is normal to feel anxious and panic. The disease is likely to affect not just the physical health of the people but also mental health. There is a growing threat of stress, panic, and sleep disturbance affecting the population. Anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, severe phobias, and PTSD may also be likely to grow among the people already suffering from mental health problems.

 

The most affected by this pandemic are the doctors who are working long hours and with next to no means to deal with the novel disease. The fear and anxiety of treating people with a disease that has no cure and which is yet not entirely understood can get surmountable.

 

Another major cause of stress and panic is misinformation and rumor-mongering. When a piece of inaccurate and unverified news starts making rounds among the general masses, the resulting situation becomes very difficult to deal with at times.

 

It is, therefore, very important to take care of mental health as well. WHO recommends that even though we all should stay at home and away from crowds to contain the disease, we must socialize with our friends and family regularly. Staying connected and sharing your thoughts, fears, and anxiety can help one a lot in dealing with the stress of the situation.

 

One should be aware and informed of the situation and how to protect oneself and those around from COVID-19, but one must avoid reading, listening or watching the news that causes one extreme stress and anxiety. It is important to maintain a regular routine in which you are physically active as well. Exercising and eating healthy can help in dealing with stress by increasing the level of dopamine and serotonin.

 

 

People must find opportunities to amplify positive stories and means to keep themselves busy and support one another in dealing with not just the disease but also the isolation that is accompanied with it.

 

Covid-19 is not just the test of technology and doctors but also of people as a whole. This disease has brought us closer and together this can be overcome. Scientists and doctors are doing their bit by working towards handling the disease and finding a cure for it. We must do our bit by staying home and by extending our support globally to prevent this disease from becoming a mental health epidemic as well.

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Smile

Social Distancing – The need of the hour!

Social Distancing – The need of the hour!

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan, China earlier this year, the world has witnessed over 220,000 cases globally. China has 80,928 cases presently, however, there no new local cases reported either within Wuhan or across mainland China. The country has reported just 34 cases, all of which are imported ones.

 

The rest of the world is struggling to control the fast-spreading epidemic that has claimed 8,988 lives so far. Italy, Iran, Spain, all have now become the epicenter of the disease. In a situation where there is no treatment or vaccine to fight the disease, social distancing is a crucial method to contain the disease from gaining ground.

 

China stands as a role model in effectively preventing the spread of the disease across its population by implementing lockdown in the cities and executing measures to prevent hoarding of medicines and essential goods by the public. Italy, on the other hand, did not take the necessary action and has now turned into the hub of Covid-19.

 

 

Social distance is important in countries like India with high population density and lower reach of essential healthcare. An epidemic has four stages before it reaches an uncontrollable state. Stage one is the import of disease into the country and has not originated locally. The next stage involves the person to person local transmission when people come in contact with the infected person with travel history to the epicenter of the disease. Stage three is community transmission in which a cluster of people are infected and the source of transmission cannot be identified. The fourth is a full-blown epidemic.

 

India is yet to reach stage three as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). This, however, will not last if appropriate measures are not taken by the government as well as by the people.

 

Covid-19 is dangerous for people above 60 years of age and people with a weak immune system or who have prior health conditions like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, etc. Therefore, it is important to adopt social distancing at a personal level. Social distancing involves avoiding public gatherings and spaces until absolutely necessary.

 

Most people believe since they do not show any symptoms or even if they get the disease, it will not affect them as they are young and have strong immunity. Yet, even then we can be hosting the disease and might be transmitting it to people who may not be able to recover from it.

 

The present situation expects us all to be more socially responsible and execute our duties as human beings by distancing ourselves from other people as much as possible. The young might be able to bear the disease but there are a lot of people who do not have the luxury of having a body capable of fighting Covid-19.

 

As advised by WHO and CDC, maintaining good hygiene and social distancing are the two most important shields we have against this novel virus that is spreading like wildfire across the world. This disease may not be treatable yet, but it definitely is preventable. China has proved it to the world by effectively controlling it. A country that is not sending out medical professionals to aid other countries in this fight against Covid-19.

 

 

Following the lead of the global health agencies, Smile Foundation’s mobile healthcare units, Smile on Wheels, are traveling from community to community. They provide the lesser privileged with much needed medical care as well as awareness about this disease that has taken the world by storm. With a lot of people hoarding essential medicines as well as antiseptics and sanitizers in this time of need, the SoW heroes are working relentlessly to reach out to people in the most remote areas. These agents bring to them the healthcare and awareness about Covid-19 to equip them with knowledge crucial to thaw the spread of this disease.

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Smile

Pandemic – Evitable Until Inevitable

Pandemic – Evitable Until Inevitable

Black Plague in 1347, cholera pandemic in 1816, flu pandemic in 1889, Spanish flu in 1918, HIV/AIDS pandemic since 1920, H1N1 flu in 2009 and now the pandemic, COVID – 19.

 

Diseases have been inflicting humans since the dawn of civilization, probably even before that. The earliest known epidemic to have affected a vast population was the Plague of Athens (429 – 426 BC). It claimed as many as 100,000 lives in Greece and the cause of the epidemic is still not known.

 

One of the most devastating pandemics of all time is the Black Plague (1347 – 351). Even though confined majorly to Europe and the Middle East, it wiped out more than half the population of Europe with 200 million deaths. In 1918, Spanish flu (presently H1N1) hit the global population affecting one-third of the population worldwide while killing between 17 – 50 million people at the time.

 

 

What made each of these pandemics worse than the last was the fact how much the world kept shrinking and connecting more people with each other. Presently, more than 100,000 flights go around the world making travel from place to another easier both for humans and the virus they might host. If a pandemic like Black Plague were to happen, it will easily spread through the in a matter of few weeks. Precisely what we are facing with the COVID – 19 which as affected over 180,000 people and killed more than 7,000.

It takes just one person!

 

However, with advancing diseases humans have also managed to become advanced in technology. A disease that would once have passed through humans untreated and/or unrecognized can now be prevented from becoming apocalyptic. Scientists now have knowledge and technology far more superior than they did just 20 years. Reports are there that vaccine for COVID – 19 can be available within the next 18 months. Earlier, if the human trials succeed.

 

Doctors, scientists, and organizations are working round the clock not only to find a vaccine for COVID -19 but also to find one single vaccine for all the virus strain known to humans. They hunt for such virus strains hosted by birds, pigs, bats, and animals which are known to pass these viruses to humans, to find the disease(s) that can possibly kill thousands of millions of people, before it even enters the human system.

 

Being prepared for a global pandemic has become important in modern times. It is not a matter of if but when in the case of a viral disease. It’s COVID – 19 which is infectious yet has a low mortality rate. It will be something more severe in the future and to be prepared for it is all each of us can.

 

 

The same starts with hygiene. Maintaining proper hygiene is important not only to prevent a pandemic or an epidemic but also to prevent oneself from falling sick of diseases that can turn fatal. Washing hands properly and regularly; not touching one’s mouth, nose, eyes; staying away from public spaces when sick; contacting a doctor timely when sick are a few things that can prepare one at a personal level.

 

In a world that has 1.2 billion living on less than one dollar a day, adopting these habits is not the priority. Lack of awareness and limited access to healthcare due to inadequate infrastructure makes the poorest of the world the most vulnerable to being victims of fatalities due to a pandemic.

 

In an effort to prepare the people from underprivileged communities in India, Smile Foundation conducts awareness and counseling sessions across all its project verticals. From teaching children to hand washing techniques to imparting the entire community in urban slums & rural areas with knowledge of maintaining adequate hygiene, Smile undertakes the role to prepare people for a situation that can be prevented; and if not prevented then protected from.

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In The Spotlight

Beating coronavirus at the grassroots: Beyond stage 2 India’s hinterland population will be highly vulnerable

Beating coronavirus at the grassroots: Beyond stage 2 India’s hinterland population will be highly vulnerable

With the outbreak of novel coronavirus, there has been a shakeup across the world. India is at stage 2 and as the ICMR director general has pointed out, we have only 30 days or less to halt the onset of stage 3. While we can still contain the virus and ensure that it is not spread, it is vital to influence our rural population and make them aware of the actions they can take.

 

Global communications have made it clear that to avoid being infected with the coronavirus, one has to take precautions – particularly washing hands and maintaining hygiene at all times. It also involves avoiding handshakes and touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Though the message is clear, and India is still at a nascent stage of the virus, a major threat looms, particularly with our hinterland population.

 

66% of India’s population lives in rural areas and has limited access to healthcare services. Their access is limited due to personal negligence and lack of infrastructure. Moreover, recent studies on hand hygiene in rural India indicate that only 26.3% of the rural population washed hands before child feeding, 14.7% before breastfeeding, 16.7% after disposing of child faeces, and 18.4% after cleaning a child’s bottom. These numbers indicate how big a behavioral challenge exists.

 

On a central level, an evident push towards controlling the coronavirus outbreak is clear. From the prime minister tweeting on steps to be taken to cancelling almost all existing visas to India, some bold moves have been made to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Some state governments have also put a foot forward, by shutting schools, colleges and cinema halls. WHO director general has clearly stated that Covid-19 is a controllable pandemic and urged all countries to take a comprehensive approach tailored to their circumstances – with containment as the central pillar. Given that containment is the way to go, we have to understand that nationally spreading one line of communication may not be the only way to go.

 

Globally we have about 1.2 billion people who live in extreme poverty with less than a dollar a day to survive on as per WHO. Out of this, 276 million are in India, according to Census 2011. The majority of them live either in urban slums or in remote rural locations where access to hygiene and healthcare are both a matter of grave concern. Due to a large population, lack of awareness, lack of resources and monetary aid, our country is a ticking bomb when it comes to any communicable epidemic. The worst to suffer are the poorest. Not only do they earn less, but they also end up not having enough money or adequate healthcare support to seek immediate help.

 

Diarrhoea alone kills as many as 10,000 people annually in India, most of whom are children. A disease that can be prevented easily by maintaining adequate hygiene and handwashing is a life threat to the poorest of society. Influenza is not far behind on the list of diseases that are deadly for the underprivileged. This common flu, usually curable by a regular dose of paracetamol and hot water steam, ends up turning into pneumonia because people cannot access the basics.

 

A person living hand to mouth tends to avoid spending money on medicines and doctors and tends to rely on home remedies. In such cases, if it is a communicable disease, it stands a high chance of spreading through the community and at lightning speed as well. Awareness can play an important role in reducing the extent to which these diseases cause havoc in the lives of the underprivileged. This is the first step towards achieving a safe space where the spread of disease may be contained. To prevent is better than to cure.

 

Next comes easy access to primary healthcare service at minimal to no cost. There is also a need to setup an integrated MIS system that can be implemented on an individual basis to help track and report back cases. The data sets can be exchanged among organisations working in a set area and can help in collating a comprehensive patient list for local government authorities to track and contain the disease at the nascent stage.

 

This can also help build confidence in the lower strata of the society once the positive cases are taken care of. It is also hard for people to distinguish between reality and myths – such as bizarre beliefs about home remedies to tackle the virus. With a serious pandemic like Covid-19 myths must be busted and awareness generated. This is crucial for a holistic containment strategy for the nation if and when we reach a higher stage.

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In The Spotlight

International Women’s Day: Project Gender Save

International Women’s Day: Project Gender Save

Nagpur is the Orange city of the nation & also the summer capital of Maharashtra. It’s a city that I can easily call a sleeping giant. There’s so much development happening there, it’s tough to fathom if you haven’t witnessed it with your own eyes. A city’s development & construction activities are manifested by its pollution level. In Nagpur however, the AQI is a comfortable 58, which implies that despite all the construction, the city has managed to still maintain a pollution free environment.  It’s a city that is happy in its state of being, where a Starbucks or a Uniqlo doesn’t play much role in the lives of the natives.

 

Education, of course, is very important in the lives of an average Nagpur resident and that makes conversations in this city very healthy & exciting. People are not only knowledgeable but also opinionated. The city is bestowed with many educational institutions and coaching centres, which leads me to have more fathom the huge importance on academic. As a representative of Child for Child division of Smile Foundation, I visited a lot of our partner schools, and interacted with the principals. I realised that each school has a very strong culture that gets embedded in the souls of its students. The value system that is imbued plays a very crucial role in the holistic development of each child and therefore it was but natural that they become our partners in philanthropy. Smile Foundation has always enjoyed working with schools that follow the same spirit of empathy & working towards civic driven change.

 

A hug from them is all one needs

 

My visit to schools all across Nagpur, from Kamptee to Hingda, from Warda to Sambalpuri gave me the opportunity to soak in the true philanthropic dispositions of the people of Nagpur.  The team of CFC in Nagpur has now further spread its wings to Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh. There are people who are travelling extensively to spread Smile in the lives of children studying in schools that are located even in small districts. Such schools have also become our charity partners and we have always helped with them in their times of need.

 

My visit to Nagpur, coincided with the celebration of International Women’s Day. And, what a celebration it was! New Apostolic English High School, Nagpur is one of our very old CFC associations. Smile Foundation has been working with them for close to 8 years now. The relationship of the school with our Child for Child division has moved to a different level, where we now partner with them for upliftment of women whose children are supported by the school via Smile Foundation. Children and teachers under the guidance of their principal & coordinator put up a beautiful act for celebrating International Women’s Day.

 

Children welcoming the Smile Foundation team with a prayer.

 

The school has launched a program with Smile Foundation called Gender Save.  As a part of this initiative, women who come from the family of children supported by the funds raised via New Apostolic school are provided employability assistance by Smile Foundation. This project was initiated with the help of Smile Foundation, in 2016. We awarded them one sewing machine and since then we have been supporting them by giving one sewing machine every year. Now the project has 27 machines since its foundation and more than 100 women have successfully completed a 3 months certified course of sewing. It has empowered more than 100 homemakers and girls, to earn their livelihood by grooming their sewing skills. These women design and stitch clothes for the new born and these clothes are given to the poorest of the poor infants born in the nearby Government Medical College, Nagpur.

 

The Sewing Machines that have helped  women regain their self-respect & livelihood

 

The objective of the project is to empower the home makers and the slum dwellers from nearby the school and the said site of the project. Around 20 home makers who had developed their sewing skills through this centre participated in today’s event, along with the students of the school.

 

As a mark of gratitude the women beneficiaries and their trainer shared their experiences with the Smile Team. They shared stories of how they felt empowered with the help of the earnings that they generate by stitching clothes. The smiles on their faces and the sense of dignity they carry with them truly made our celebration of International Women’s Day memorable.

 

To volunteer for Smile Foundation and work for these above mentioned causes visit: https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/volunteer.html

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Smile

Let’s Win over Corona: CFC Campaign

Let’s Win over Corona: CFC Campaign

In these times of anguish & uncertainty when people are in the dark about what Corona virus numbers will greet them the next morning, who is the next person getting adversely affected by it, Smile Foundation is trying to spread smiles & awareness amongst everyone. People these days are looking for a glimmer of hope to cling to, especially now that they are under lockdown. A lot of them are reorganizing their lives as they are letting go of the earlier routines and building new ones. Adults and children alike are adding new words into their vocabulary like Lockdown, super spreader, contact tracing. There is an infodemic that seems to be hitting all like waves. In such times, we have to go back to basics, staying happy with our family members, unshackling ourselves from bondages that guided us earlier, following the very basic routines of hygiene & sanitation. In times like this, we cannot lose faith and have to wait patiently for the situation to turn for the better.

 

At Child for Child (CFC), we have always believed that children are supposed to be out in the world, channelizing their energy towards sports & education & also towards playing with their friends. But times are such, unfortunately, they are under house restrictions for no fault of theirs. The realization came while the team was discussing the movement restrictions that children are the worst sufferers, and now was when efforts needed to be made to keep them busy & engaged productively & progressively. CFC team members’ conversations started to veer towards helping children unleash their creative talents even during the lockdown. The idea that took shape was to enthuse children with the idea of expressing their feelings, their sentiments & the knowledge acquired about the Corona pandemic in some creative manifestation. And, most importantly also to build in an element of competition so that they do not become lethargic. As the famous saying goes, “All work & no play makes Jack a dull boy!”

 

 

The Child for Child team then put together a campaign, decided upon the categories and themes for the 8-day campaign. It was decided that students can share their ideas on “How to Win the Fight over COVID-19” by way of paintings, sketches, essays, poems, shairi, slogans, song lyrics, prose, satire, & cartoons with a social message. The team then reached out to thousands of their school partners across Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, Punjab, Jammu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & many more regions. They got an extremely positive response as every school was looking at keeping their students busy & engaged productively. CFC then built in an added element of competing for fun. With the blessings of Smile Foundation’s management, our COO, Mr. Sanjeev Dham & our National Consultant, Ms. Meena Batra, the final campaign was created. And sure enough, it was immediately lapped up by School principals & coordinators, and CFC’s national level campaign; “Students say….Let’s Win the Fight over Corona” took birth. The campaign commenced on the 30th of Mar’20 & will conclude on the 6th of Apr’20. The outreach has been to over 4000 schools & more than 50000 children received information about the campaign & the idea behind it via various mediums, calls, Whatsapp, emails, social media posts, The buzz was created relentlessly while staying locked down in our respective homes. It is in times like these we realize how technology has helped us become one global family!

 

A digital poster was created for the campaign & a Google form was generated for online registrations. CFC team rolled out the campaign pan India at 3 pm on the 27th of March’20 to seek early registrations. Principals & Coordinators of schools put into use their email groups & Whatsapp groups and circulated details about the campaign. They spoke with parents & guided them to motivate children to participate in the competition and to move away from the screens that seemed to have taken over their lives. For any queries, they were directed to the CFC team.

 

Within 24 hours there were over 300 registrations and the numbers have crossed 2400 since. The portal opened for entry submissions on the morning of the 30th of March, and there have been thousands of entries. We are halfway into the campaign and have already received close to 2000 paintings on the campaign theme, and close to a thousand entries on essays & poems. All submissions are sent by participants as a pdf, image or scanned copy in the attachment to an email id mentioned in the poster.

 

The campaign was built to force children to use their mental faculties and come out with their creative best for any of the themes that they would choose. Children across all age groups, 4 years to 18 have participated across different age categories. Results will be declared on Smile Foundation’s Facebook page on the 22nd of April’20. Winners will get 1st, 2nd & 3rd place Medals. All participants will get a Digital Certificate of Participation. Prizes will be given after schools reopen whenever the lockdown is removed.

 

Due to the overwhelming response of children and the huge number of entries, at CFC we realized that we have hit a spot with Schools, parents & children. We very proudly announce that we have now involved an external jury comprising esteemed people from the creative field, to sift through the mountain of submissions and arrive at the best few entries. Ms. Sangeeta Kumar Murthy, a felicitated artist for the past 25 years and Ms. Shivani Wazir Pasrich, a prominent theatre artist have agreed to be our jury. Keep watching this space as the campaign comes to a closure.

 

Some of the parents have sent us emails that reflect their appreciation for the campaign, which has given their children to not only be busy but to also give an outlet to the information that they have been exposed to the ongoing pandemic of Corona. One such message is shared below:

 

“Dear Team,

It’s a great initiative to make the kids engaged with the activities and to make them aware of COVID 19.

 

 Cheers,

Suneetha Manthri”

 

As we analyze the registrations, we see one region, Maharashtra, has shown a huge interest in this campaign, maybe because the state has now become the epicenter for the Corona in India. Around 50% of the registrations are from that state. There are some beautiful paintings & write-ups submitted by children. This Corona pandemic has truly left our students affected and they really want to do something, whatever little while staying home. The submissions vary in their concepts, from “Washing Hands”, “Break the Chain”, “Social Distancing”, “Save the Earth”. Children as young as 4 years have sent in their drawings. This clearly shows that students care & they want to be heard. The paintings, the poetry, the song lyrics are all depicting their anguish, their hope & their prayers.

 

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