Arpana Research & Charities Trust (Regd.)
Exempt under Section 80-G of the Income Tax Act, 1961
(Arpana is extremely grateful to Friends of Kalpana and Jaydev Desai for supporting the Arpana’s activities to prevent Covid-19 through vaccination camps.)
This year COVID-19 is reaching not only city people, but also those in villages. Many villagers were gripped by this disease and village folk, including people of Arpana groups, even died. April and May 2021 saw a virulent second wave of the Corona pandemic sweep across India.
Seeing the collapse of the health system in cities due to the huge number of Covid patients, an ambiance of fear arose among the villagers. Arpana countered this with information. 6,000 people of the 900 groups in 100 villages, were given detailed information to combat COVID-19 through phone and WhatsApp messages.
Arpana collaborated with the Medical Office in Karnal under the Corona Rescue Campaign being run by the government. In the beginning, Arpana committed to create awareness of the importance of vaccinations among the villagers.
Along with the regular workers, Arpana trained 30 self help group (SHG) volunteers to inform the villagers on Home Visits, clear their doubts and motivate them to get vaccinated in the coming Covid Camps.
Because of this proactive cooperation between the health department and Arpana’s outreach team, the vaccination camps were a complete success.
For instance, where the government team was short of computer data operators, Arpana’s team members stepped in and did the necessary work.
Total Messages Sent in July | 15,392 |
Total Messages Sent in August | 36,207 |
Total Messages Sent in Sept. | 23,568 |
Estimated Messages sent in Oct. | 20,000 |
Estimated Messages sent in Nov. | 20,000 |
TOTAL MESSAGES | 115,167 |
Sending messages for Covid-19, SHG matters, skill training, etc.
Madhuban, Karnal 132037, Haryana, INDIA Telephones: 0184-2380801, 2390905, Fax: 2380810
e-mail: arct@arpana.org, website: www.arpanaservices.org
In July and August, in order to hold vaccination camps in villages with free doses to all, the government made preparations for vaccines and discussed with Arpana the areas to be covered in Arpana’s target 100 villages.
Mr. Sukhbir, Deputy CMO of Karnal, informed Arpana about the “Ghar Ghar Dastak” program (house to house survey) started by the Department to make vaccinations more successful. He also discussed their difficulties, especially the ASHA workers in the villages going on strike and not participating in this program.
Constant contact was made by Arpana with the Medical Officers of the Community Health Centers (CHC) and Primary Health Centers (PHC). Identifying the areas with few immunizations, Arpana formed a special team and had the residents vaccinated.
The villages that came under Madhuban were prominent in the area targeted by the government. Arpana’s Corona Volunteers and other staff were instrumental in completing vaccinations in that area. Arpana worked hard to fill any gaps, i.e. computer operations, messaging, etc. that occurred in working with the government.
Dr. Sukhbir felicitating Arpana’s Dr. Ela Anand
Deputy CMO, Dr. Sukhbir, attended Arpana’s celebration of International Disability Day and Struggle on 26th November and reiterated the importance of vaccinations to the more than 400 differently abled persons who attended.
He requested them to get immunized in their own societies and in their villages as per the schedule that the Medical Office and Arpana had made.
In 80 villages out of the 100 in which Arpana has organized women’s self help groups, the SHG women were engaged as Corona Volunteers.
Informing villagers about vaccination benefits | Collecting data from house to house survey |
They did door-to-door surveys in their respective villages and prepared a list of those who were not vaccinated or had incomplete vaccinations. In collaboration with ANMs, the SHG women volunteers are helping in getting the vaccinations done.
Mr. Ish Bhattanagar sharing new Corona information with Volunteers
On 30th October 2021, a Corona Volunteer Workshop was organized at Arpana in which 32 SHG members participated.
The corona epidemic was discussed in detail with all the volunteers who attended. Mr. Ish Bhatnagar told them how to help protect themselves and their families as well as the people of the villages, from this epidemic.
A plan was made in which all the members of the Self Help Groups in the villages who have not yet been vaccinated, will be visited by Corona Volunteers to get them vaccinated. The volunteers will take unvaccinated people in auto-rickshaws to Karnal or to the villages where vaccinations are taking place, for their vaccinations.
Feedback was taken through house to house surveys conducted by all the volunteers in the months of October and November. A plan was then prepared for the month of December.
SHG women got themselves and their family members vaccinated to root out the corona epidemic.
By end November 2021,
1,264 Camps were Held and 116,938 People Vaccinated
Deep gratitude is extended to Friends of Kalpana and Jaydev Desai, especially from New Mexico State University for their support for this vital program.
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