"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance."-Claus Moser
Awaaz (meaning “voice”
in Hindi) is a project that Maitri runs to reach out to Delhi’s rickshaw-puller
population. It is also the project that I have done the most work with so far,
therefore it has come to take up a fair amount of my time on an average day.
Allow me to give some background information on the project.
Hundreds of
thousands of people in India migrate from villages and towns into big cities every year. Usually these people are men who are unable to find work at home. These
migrants are often adult males who come to make some money to send home to
support their families. Rickshaw-pulling is an attractive occupation for lots
of migrants, because renting a rickshaw is easy and requires no immediate
monetary deposit. Rickshaw-pullers will typically pay their rental fees at the
end of the day or week, rather than up front.
Since
rickshaw-pullers are often supporting a whole family back home (on average, one rickshaw-puller supports five additional people) they don’t have enough
money to afford decent living conditions in the city (in this case, in Delhi).
Most rickshaw-pullers are homeless. Many of them sleep on their rickshaws on
the side of the road, while others stay in slums. Either way, they often lack access
to safe water and food. Their personal hygiene suffers. Feeling isolated
and depressed, many of them turn to risky sexual behavior and drug use that may
expose them to HIV/AIDS or other STIs. Poor living conditions increase their
risk of becoming infected with Tuberculosis. To make matters worse, since they
don’t have a fixed address and they’re being paid under the table, it's very difficult for them to become officially registered as Delhi citizens. Without
citizenship they are not able to access government-sponsored healthcare and
other benefits.
Thus, Maitri
created Project Awaaz. First the project team schedules regular educational
sessions where they teach Delhi's rickshaw-pullers about hygiene and health-seeking practices. They also
educate rickshaw-pullers about safe sex practices to combat the spread of
HIV/AIDS. Second, through Project Awaaz, Maitri provides free healthcare and
tests for diseases. They provide free medication to treat HIV and TB. Maitri works with a bunch of different partner NGOs and
hospitals that contribute to the cause. For example, a local hospital donates
the time of some of its staff when Maitri holds a health camp. One NGO based out of Australia provides Maitri with HIV
tests that give a result within three minutes. Finally, Project Awaaz works to educate
rickshaw-pullers about how to become registered citizens. This way they may begin
to receive government-sponsored healthcare in the future.
Phew! Ok, so
there it is! I’ve been spending a large chunk of my time at work researching
this project and helping to write a grant proposal for it. Keep in mind that
this is a very basic summary. It’s very rewarding work!
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