Water & Sanitation
WELCOME to LEAF SOCEITY
LEAF Society is implementing a water & sanitation project ‘promotion of safe sanitation practices among marginalized and vulnerable communities’ in few villages of Namakkal, Rasipuram and Kolli Hills (tribal region) of Namakkal district of Tamilnadu. We are implementing a water & sanitation project in five villages with support from ARGHYAM www.arghyam.org to bring an attitudinal shift & behavioral change among most vulnerable and marginalized communities.
Our Strategy:
Since, it’s being difficult to bring an attitudinal shift and behavioral change among people above 40 years of age – we have adopted a new strategy. We are using children as change agents in each village and trying to influence the behavioral patterns of each family through innovative methods. LEAF Society is conducting joyful learning centers in all of the villages, through which we are influencing the children towards personal hygiene, safe sanitation and drinking water practices. We are sure, if, we are able to change the behavioral patterns of a child, he or she can definitely influence peers, siblings, mother and neighbors. And he or she will also change their own family’s behavior, once they became adult or head of a family.
Our core concept is,
LEAF's approach towards safe sanitation
Our experiment and approach has been exceptionally well perceived and it started showing good results among families and communities. The children are influencing the behavioral patterns of other members in the family and there are considerable improvements towards personal hygiene and safe sanitation. Though, children will not be able to take key decision in the families and however, they can influence the decision of the family members.
Based on the success and the tremendous response in our projects, we are advocating using – ‘children as change agents’. We are also recommending incorporating safe sanitation practices in the school curriculum and teacher’s trainings. We are sure, this strategy and approach will yield better results in addressing the issues of water & sanitation
Our philosophy of safe sanitation:
Demand creates the supply.
Dignified way for safe sanitation is to create a constant – sustained – all round demand among communities through various innovative behavioral change & modification tools. This will results in self motivated safe sanitation practices – including construction of their own individual toilets. We strongly believe that, safe sanitation is not an external phenomenon – rather, it’s an internal change towards personal hygiene and safe sanitation.
Our approach:
IEC materials for Children
Since, children will be the key change agent in all our projects, we have designed certain plays, games, trainings and tools for children towards safe sanitation practices. These games and tools are being used by children in day to day life – during their joyful learning centers and all our children are playing them every day. We believe, by using our tools, playing with our game, children will register all safe sanitation & personal hygiene messages in their brain and those messages will definitely reflect as positive behaviors. Some of our tools are,
- Personal Hygiene diary
This is a simple low cost positive addiction tool, which promotes six basic personal hygiene practices among children. Each child has been given with four month diary, in which they have to make a mark – before going to bed. Those activities are brushing twice, using toilets, safe disposal of waste, hand washing, etc. The children will also been awarded with a bi -cycle if, they follow the dairy for four months and get done all six components. The chances of children increasing the pressure of constructing a toilet will be very high as children may get a cycle, if they complete the diary successfully.
- Memory Game
Read the concept of memory game
Read the concept of memory game
- Snake & ladder game
- Personal hygiene train game
Given the all above strategies and approaches, we are trying to influence the families of rural & tribal villages and join us, if you are also interested in our water & sanitation project.
Also see our reports
- Water & sanitation training reports
- Progress reports
- Power point presentations
- Booklets and manuals
- Multimedia kit on water & sanitation
