Day Care Center
Since 2001 the organization has opened one Day Care Centre in Athmallick Block with the financial assistance from Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India. In each centre 50 aged people, both male and female from the nearby villages are accommodated and provided with the following facilities:
o Recreation
o Reading
o Medical and treatment
Added to this VIRD provides one time nutritious food free everyday since most of them belong to BPL family. To keep them fit, they are encouraged to participate in developmental activities directly or indirectly. For their pleasure & solace the organization conducts excursion visit to holy places each year.
Campaign against Female Feticide
There is cry we listen every where now-a-days that girl children are missing. They are just not missing after they are born; they are missing after their appearance in the womb. Female fetus is medically demolished in the womb. Had it been not so, the male-female ratio would not show a wide gap.
The practice of medical termination of pregnancy with female fetus is done in the educated well-to-do families, by the educated & advanced parents and this one again establishes that women are less than equal, less honored as human beings. The issue is quite big. However, with our limited support & resource we tried to educate the middle class populace in our area on the issue with a word of warning for the future. Women’s right activists, medicos and educationists (Dr. S. Panda, Mrs. B. Dash & Mrs. S. Mallick, Mr. B. N. Mishra) were invited as resource persons to apprise & educate on the importance of the issue.
Consumer Club
During the period under report, VIRD facilitated formation of 20 nos. of Consumer Clubs in even number of schools. The motive of the initiative was to protect the consumers from malafied practices of the traders and manufacturers. The programme was supported by the Ministry of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs.
20 nos. of awareness camps and Focus Group Discussions were conducted to reinforce the effort which culminated in formation of the clubs.
AIDS Awareness Programme
VIRD has undertaken Awareness Programmes on HIV & AIDS with the theme of “Know AIDS for No AIDS” among high-risk population and through community based organizations. The organization undertook the campaign amongst truckers, persons associated with transportation across states, hoteliers beside the national highways etc. through dissemination of IEC materials collected from different sources active in addressing the menace.
Use of the occasions such as; meetings of SHGs and village organization is a very important strategy for awareness generation among people on STIs, & HIV/AIDS. VIRD as an NGO has utilized these platforms to disseminate knowledge and information on the issues. Through these platforms, over 4000 persons have been made aware of HIV & AIDS. Members of SHGs, VDC members and youth groups attend the meetings and discuss issues related to HIV/AIDS, migration, trafficking of young girls, unprotected sex etc.
Animal Welfare Programme
VIRD organized Animal Health Camps in each of the project villages and discussion was held on various preventive measures that need to be taken to keep the livestock healthy.
Training on Collective Marketing
Training on “Marketing of Forest Produce as Group Venture” was facilitated by a social activist engaged in promotion of marketing of forest produces. Women were oriented on maintenance of practices of cleanliness and hygiene in collection, primary processing and storage of Mahua. They were oriented on the benefits of Collective Marketing (Marketing as a Group Venture) so that they will have the bargaining power against the petty traders.
Anti-Drug Awareness Campaign
Drug abuse and substance use has emerged as another social evil. Addressing this issue, VIRD has organized one anti-drug campaign. The rural population of our project area is addicted to country liquor and Indian hemp. With organization of Anti-Drug Campaign and regular counselling by the volunteers of the organization, VIRD has been to de-addict 21 persons from Alcohol and 37 persons from Hemp.
Cancer Awareness Programme
During the last few years, cases of Oral and Liver Cancer have witnessed an increasing trend in our project area. Use of Tobacco, alcohol, country liquor, Cigarette/Bidi and lack of oral hygiene are some of the reasons for higher incidence of Cancer. It is being witnessed that the young generation is getting addicted to tobacco and liquor which make them vulnerable to Cancer. VIRD organized Cancer Awareness Programme which was attended by 46 community volunteers. The community volunteers have spread the message organizing formal and informal discussions with the community.
Cultural Programme
VIRD organized three cultural shows to disseminate socially relevant messages among the community using Daskathia, one of the most popular folk art media. Through this, VIRD disseminated information on female foeticide, financial inclusion and gender equality. Cultural troupes were oriented on the themes/issues and community based organization of different villages looked after the logistics of the programmes.
Immunization and Health Check up Camps
Rural population in general and the poor in particular suffer on account of disease burden which creates a vicious cycle of poverty. Lack of knowledge, attitude and practice among the people, absence of disease preventive knowledge and inaccessibility to health services are the factors responsible for poor health status of the community. VIRD organized Immunization and Health Check up Camps in 4 villages of Athmallick (Titigaon, Bahali) and Reamal (Poipani, Burbuda) Blocks with the objective of providing curative health services. 342 persons attended the Health Camps. Health service providers held interactive sessions with the community disseminating information on government health schemes and programmes and apprised the participants on personal hygiene, nutrition and cleanliness.
Environment Awareness Programme
In pursuance of its mandate of protecting the environment from further degradation, VIRD organized Environmental Awareness Building Camp inviting women community leaders. The day-long Camp focussed on the theme of “Environment and Women” underlining the vital role that the women could play in building awareness among the community and the measures that need to be taken for environment protection and regeneration. The camp was organized at Bahali village in Athamallick block of Angul district which was participated by 42 women community leaders.
Promotion of Kitchen Garden
VIRD has supported 56 households to develop kitchen gardens in their respective backyards. It is a livelihood intervention and targets the rural women to participate in family income measures. The targeted women have been trained to develop a qualitatively superior vegetable garden in terms of varieties of vegetables grown by the households. It is important to note that the initiative has resulted in improvement of dietary status of the households and reduction in disease burden among them.
Swachha Bharat Abhiyan
VIRD has held Orientation Programmes of community volunteers on promoting use of toilets. The community volunteers have been oriented on ways and means to flag off discussion among the community through formal and informal discussions. Reasons frequently cited by the non-users and their counter arguments were discussed with the community volunteers on the Orientation Programme. Case studies and newspaper reports underlining the benefits of use of toilet were also discussed with the participants for their further dissemination among the community. Community Volunteers have organized 81 Interactive Sessions with the partner community following Orientation Programme.
Yoga Awareness Program
VIRD organized Yoga Awareness Camp of the community volunteers apprising them the benefits of Yoga in maintaining a good physical, mental and spiritual health. They were trained in Asanas and were imparted knowledge on the benefits of each of the Asanas. The participants were provided booklets on Yoga that pictorially presented the Asanas and delineated their processes. The community volunteers were advised to organize Yoga Sessions in their respective areas on International Yoga Day. The trained community volunteers organized 41 Yoga Sessions on the International Yoga Day which were attended by 1154 persons.