Anti-Leprosy Week – January/February 2008

 

As usual, Lok Seva Sangam finalized the yearly Anti-Leprosy Week with the Community Group Project of Baingawadi. The whole programme was conducted with a view to generate awareness among the masses that Leprosy is a completely curable disease and that one should without any fear of being stigmatized, immediately approach the nearest Municipal Dispensary for treatment. As a immediate result, there has been a slow and steady voluntary inflow of leprosy suspects to all our dispensaries and more will come in. The major share of the credit for the resounding success of the Anti Leprosy Week Programme goes to members of the Self Help Group, as without their co operation and contribution nothing would have been possible. Herewith below is the relevant programme carried on: 

30.01.2008 – ANTI LEPROSY RALLY  A Rally was flagged off from the Bainganwadi Community Development to Rafiq Nagar. Departmental Medical Officer Dr (Mrs) Lokhande of Baiganwadi Health Post inaugurated the Anti-Leprosy Week Programme.  She joined the Rally along with 100 students of Rose High School, LSS’ School for Children students and the Self Help Group members. Pamphlets were distributed along the way and Slogans shouted out, in order to bring awareness amongst the people about Leprosy. 

31.01.2008 and 2.2.08 – EXHIBITIONS ON LEPROSY 

An Exhibition was held on 31^st January 2008 at the Shiv Sena Branch office, Nr. Old Bus Depot, Baiganwadi and near Dr. M. S. Kini’s Clinic, Shivaji Nagar. As mentioned earlier, the Anti Leprosy week is based on Leprosy awareness, so that people should understand the proper causes and effects of this disease, avoid neglecting the signs and symptoms of the disease and acknowledge the importance of hygiene. Information that the disease is completely curable with proper and timely treatment was conveyed through the exhibits. 

01.02.2008 – GROUP TALK ABOUT LEPROSY 

During Anti Leprosy week a seminar was conducted for the people residing in Nirankari Bhavan and Plot no. 8, D – Line, Baiganwadi, briefing them about Leprosy, the cost of the disease, the symptoms and the precaution to be taken for the same.  

04.02.2008 – STREET PLAY 

A  Street play was enacted on 4^th February 2008 at Nr. Sanjay Nagar municipal school, Baiganwadi, to bring about social awareness and also to improve the standard of living of the people residing there. Pamphlet’s of information on Leprosy were also distributed by members of the Self Help Groups, so that awareness about Leprosy would be generated. 

05.02.2008 – PAMPHLET’S DISTRIBUTION 

The whole day was spent distributing Pamphlets of information on Leprosy and Leprosy clinics of Lok Seva Sangam to the private practitioners of Baiganwadi by members Self Help Group.  

LSS 2007 Christmas Party: a very Happy Day!

 

There were almost 250 children and more than 50 adults present at the function and our guests Fabio and Patrizia added glamour and meaning to our show. Each Balwadi entertained and regaled the others with various skits: the Christmas Story, the Polio Virus and the the Deaf Servant.

No programme is complete unless it has music! The Balwadi children performed various songs and dance items impressing the audience and keeping them enthralled for almost two hours. The children of Everald added their beautiful voices under the guidance of Flory and Augustine Rebello.

Finally, Santa Claus jiingled his way in distributing sweets to all and sundry much to the amusement of the children, The Everard Welfare Society also arranged for a slide, so that these slum children could enjoy themselves fully. All went home happy and fulfilled!

About LSS

Lok Seva Sangam (LSS) is a voluntary agency, registered in February 1976 under the Societies Registration Act and is essentially aimed at leprosy control and at the welfare of leprosy patients in the urban area of Bombay. Leprosy control and welfare activities had been started in 1969 at Janata Colony, Mankhurd (now Cheeta Camp) and at Chunabhatti slum where the incidence of leprosy is very high. In 1976, LSS took up the responsibility for leprosy control in “L” Ward (Kurla area) which has a population of over 300,000 people.  The main aspects of the control program are: Survey, Education and Treatment (SET).  

Baiganwadi slum is so far from the economic development, where India is currently competing with the developed world; here the poor are still becoming poorer. The project of Emmaus Swiss aims at empowering these people of Baiganwadi:  

• To raise themselves at least to a level where they might get a chance to develop themselves.
• To have a right to access health care services.
• To get a knowledge to approach where and when in periods of severe health crisis caused by TB-HIV.

 

The project does not want to make them rich beggars just by giving some money to these people (which many SER schemes indirectly do), but instead to provide them with a platform where they have a responsibility and earnings for themselves, their families as well as responsibility towards the community by a well functioning self-help group approach. 

Please check out the Activities & Projects section for more details on our job.

For the latest full version of our Annual Report 2006-2007 [in Acrobat Reader format], please click on the link herewith below:

annual-report-2007.pdf

Christmas Party – December 23, 2007 – Save the date!

Every year on December 23rd, Lok Seva Sangam hosts a Christmas Party for the children of the Balwadis of Chunabhatti, Cheeta Camp and Bainganwadi. The children of these balwadis are from families living below the poverty line where their parents cannot afford one square meal a day.  LSS provides them with education, clothes and a daily meal with the aim of bringing them out of their miserable existence and hope that they will live a fulfilling and decent life in future.

As Christmas is a time for sharing, LSS brings this Christmas joy to around 300 children every year where each balwadi entertains the other by way of stage shows (like the Christmas play) dance and song acts and health skits all performed by the children and some guests.  Presents and new clothes are given to each child and some snacks distributed to all present.  The party is incomplete without the HO ! HO! HO ! of Santa Claus.  So we are always on the lookout for Santa. 

Any one willing to take his place this year?

So, see you all at 3pm at our place at the following address:

Lok Seva Sangam

D/1, Everard Nagar
Eastern Express Highway
Sion, Mumbai – 400 022

Bainganwadi Slums

Bainganwadi Slums is an old slum which has gone through the test of times. 

One cannot exactly say how, when and which year the slum came into existence, but surely it started with very few hundreds of persons who were working as laborers for construction job on the highway which was not very far from the slums. Further the slum started fuelling with individuals who were fantasized by Mumbai and came here to work from different parts of India. They were attracted by Mumbai, called as the city where no one sleeps, a city of miracles where beggars and illiterates have turned their fortunes into becoming multi millionaires.  

However their fortunes made them lose whatever they had in their villages and small towns; they even could not get a place to sleep on the streets of Mumbai… Soon they shifted their residence to the slums of Baiganwadi where they started making illegal hutments. Most of them started earning petty incomes from rag picking from the garbage mountain, as Mumbai could not give them any employment.  

This led to the development of Bainganwadi, which is now a partly legalized slum but badly struck with a cycle of diseases, specially TB, HIV-AIDS causing poverty and poverty causing diseases. Baiganwadi recently is the only place where two fresh cases of polio were detected.

Of the over 200,000 estimated population: 

·         Only 2% follow safe sanitation and hygienic practices.

·         Only 5% drink safe water.

·         Over 80% are living below poverty line.