Trippy Aneeta

  Since my Day 1 at BHS, I was persistent on visiting Pindwara, where the organisation worked to treat and rehabilitate stone carving workers who were suffering from Silicosis. However, as I was posted in a different area (Salumber), the schedules didn’t match. So I did not get the opportunity and was disappointed. It was only after 2.5 months of being in Salumber that I accidentally found out, during a PNC home visit, that many of the women in Bedawal work at the soapstone mines, which are within the catchment area of Bedawal ( to be exact, 6 km from Amrit Clinic, Bedawal). I knew there were mines but did not think they were so near. Moreover, I assumed men were the ones who worked at the mines, as women managed household chores and agriculture. I felt upset and angry with myself. Despite engaging with the people of Bedawal during community meetings and at the clinic, I was ignorant about what the women do for a living in that locality. I was so focused on visiting an area almost ...

  As I mentioned in my previous blog, BHS is a not-for-profit organisation that provides primary health care services in rural areas of Udaipur and Salumber district. Other than the primary healthcare centre, they also have other community interventions, one being ‘Phulwari’. In Hindi, it means a bed of flowers/ garden, the most beautiful name for a daycare centre. Phulwaris are crèche services for children 6 months to 5 years old. There are over 12-20 children registered in each centre and are primarily located in areas without functioning Anganwadi. They are provided with three nutritious meals a day for their growth and development.They are taught alphabets, numbers, and nursery rhymes and engage in group activities and games for their cognitive development. The Phulwari workers monitor the children’s growth by weighing and measuring their height every month. If any child is sick or detected to have severe acute malnutrition (SAM), they are soon referred to Amrit Clinic, the pri...

BHS is a not-for-profit organisation that provides primary health care services in rural areas of Udaipur and Salumber district.   Most of the employees at each level, from the Head Office to the Swasth Kirans (SKs), are women.  At the community level, Swasth Kirans, all women, equivalent to ASHAs, go door to door in their locality to screen for TB patients, monitor ANC women, screen children for danger signs, advise regarding family planning and provide contraceptives. They connect the community to the clinic. They conduct community meetings with women in each of their hamlets and educate them on various topics such as nutrition, PNC, newborn care, and cleanliness each month. Some of the SKs are illiterate and learn all about healthcare after joining BHS through the training sessions. The maximum formal education they have would be up to 8th standard. Yet because of their sheer passion and to earn from work that would be helpful for the community, they work as SKs.  The ...