JAL HAI TOH KAL HAI
“There is Nectar in water, there is medicine in water.”
-Rigveda 1.23.19
We’ve learnt in school that we cannot lead our day to day life without water. But the widespread problem of water pollution is jeopardizing our health; globally, nearly two billion people lack access to safe water. Over half a million deaths in low- and middle-income countries are attributed to inadequate drinking-water, and a vast majority of these deaths occur among children under 5 years of age. India faces significant challenges in the provision of quality water, sanitation, solid waste management and drainage. At least 21 cities in India, including the capital New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting around 100 million people.
Equipped with a cadre of highly motivated volunteers, we, at SCOPH, MSAI-India, are immensely passionate about public health issues and motivated enough to create awareness about water pollution, water sanitation and spread information about methods of safe water practices.
Our ongoing campaign, Jal Hai Toh Kal Hai addresses the general population with aim of Conducting on ground surveys about water sources, safe water practices, water usage and water contamination using a standardized survey sheet
Creating awareness about various causes of water contamination on a personal level by door to door interaction
Spreading information about the 5 simple in-home water sanitation procedures that can be done
The Methodology of the event is divided into door-to-door survey, awareness sessions and post-event impact assessment. Door-to-door survey is the most effective and best way to spread information and also to conduct a survey on the current water practices of the target population. We have designed posters which are easily accessible and easy to carry around for door to door interaction and share information using pictures. Our volunteers also demonstrate the usage of chlorine tablets for water treatment at home so that the target population gets a hands-on experience of the same.
As of 31st December 2019, 352 medical student volunteers have been responsible for the success of this project by enthusiastically contributing their bit in 2215 houses and reaching out to a population of around 12032 till date.
The Project resources used (surveys, posters and toolkit containing our awareness information) were all developed by SCOPH – MSAI.
Currently, our project is still being implemented across India, with every event being followed by an immediate and independent impact assessment. The event is self-sustaining, it’s based on minimum expenditure for buying chlorine tablets (3-5 euros per event), it is the need of the hour, highly viable and we plan on continuing and modifying this campaign based on the needs that come up next year.
This event was structured in a way so as to actively engage all medical students and understand the grievousness of water scarcity and water contamination affecting major parts of India. We were able to think beyond the hospital wards and library and become environment enthusiasts!
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