Thursday 31 October 2019

IMPORTANCE OF VOLUNTEERING




Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” - Elizabeth Andrew

Volunteering is one of the most effective ways to gain meaningful, hands-on experience in the social work field.Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” Last month, I started working as an online volunteer for HEEALS.I have realized that it has enormous benefits. Volunteering helps bring a difference as it feels good to help other people and enact changeand give back to the community. Volunteering helps us make friends, learn new skills, advance our career, and even feel happier and healthier.The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others is the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.

Benefits of volunteering:
·         Volunteering connects you to others and helps to gain new insights.
·         Volunteering is good for your mind and body
·         Volunteering can advance your career
·         Volunteering brings a sense of accomplishment to your life

There are wonderfulVolunteering opportunities available at HEEALShttp://heeals.org/volunteer-zone-

Internship:
Experience as an intern is an incredible way to discover India and to work for an NGO. As an intern you will be treated as an employee so it could be the way for you to have a job experience abroad and to practice the skills you’ve learnt in your studies.

Online Volunteering:
As an online volunteer with us, you could do a variety of things in the comfort of your home or office.

Volunteers:
HEEALS is a growing organization which offers volunteers the unique ability & mechanism to have a truly significant role in organizational and program development.
During a volunteer program, you become deeply involved with local community, immersed in a new culture and a different way of life.

Gap Year:
During your Gap year volunteering with HEEALS allows you to do something a bit more constructive with your time. This will hone your skills, help you learn a language, immerse in another culture, build long lasting bonds, and provide vital services to a local community. Your gap year is a chance, where you can utilize your existing skills in excellent practice.



I would like to end this with the words of Mahatma Gandhi - “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Written by – Priyanka Dalmia


Wednesday 30 October 2019

Tuesday 22 October 2019

We Are All Equal !




And though she be but little, she is fierce.” – William Shakespeare


It is ironical that we worship many female Goddesses at various festivals however when it comes to women living in our home we don’t really give them the same amount of respect and care that they deserve. In the Indian rural landscape, girls are generally deprived of even the most basic facilities (such as proper nutrition, education, lifestyle etc.) in their family because of the superiority of boy child. In the Indian society, boys are given higher importance than that of girls in terms of healthcare and nutrition. One of the major issues facing India’s girls and women is the high death toll of gender discrimination, both prenatally and postnatally. We kill them before they get to see the light of day or do not care for them after their birth without even realizing how we will get a daughter, sister, wife or mother in future. Has anyone ever pondered as to what will happen if women deny to be pregnant, give birth to a baby or give up all the responsibilities of their motherhood. If not; then why are girls killed, why are they considered to be a curse, why are they regarded as a burden to their parents or society. Why are such eye-opening questions still not answered?

To solve this pressing issue, the Govt. of India has launched several initiatives to save the Girl Child and curb the menace of female infanticide. One such campaign is “BetiBachao, BetiPadhao”(Save the daughter, educate the daughter).It aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls in India.It addresses the issue of the declining child sex ratio image.
The objectives of this initiative are:
·         Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination
·         Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child
·         Ensuring education and participation of the girl child
·         Bridge the sex-ratio gap

To know more about this campaign visit:https://wcd.nic.in/bbbp-schemes


To contribute towards this social cause,time and again HEEALS has come up with various activities to support girl child .
Few of the activities undertaken are:
·         Organised  workshops In Uttar Pradesh Schoolson “Stop Child Marriage”&“Save Girl”&“Educate Girl”.
·         HEEALS spearheaded their campaign “Hand Wash and Menstrual Hygiene” using various innovative and interesting activities to explain the importance of hygiene practices. Till now, we have targeted six schools and 1050 students in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon, Haryana, India between the age group 10-14 years studying in classes 5th – 9th.
·         Through The Medium of Documentary Film like –“The Curse” we are trying to create Awareness Among the Masses about Girl Child Education , Menstrual Hygiene, Sanitation and Safe Drinking Water .
·         HEEALS organises menstrual hygiene management workshops and ‘Pads for Girls’ project which provides girls with a healthier and safer alternative: the sanitary pad.
· Through spreading education on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and organizing WASH and MH workshop, HEEALS is working to increase the attendance rates of girls in schools who drop out from school due to their period and improve self-confidence of girls in Indian society.

s    Kindly support our "Wonder Girls" Project : https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wondergirl?fbclid=IwAR3dbqwRgdDRQU-Dp7AK24TLrVDnqTqXtOpn78fADzVC4aMvRLetrzCF_6M#/
- Priyanka 
  Volunteer

Sunday 20 October 2019

Support "Wonder Girl "


The mind and the body are intrinsically linked. When you improve your physical health, you’ll automatically experience greater mental and emotional well-being. Physical activity also releases endorphins, powerful chemicals that lift your mood and provide added energy. We are striving to give strong physical & mental health to our girls . Be a part of it and Please support the campaign .
We believe in what Buddha said! -“To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep the mind strong and clear.” – Buddha


Saturday 19 October 2019

EDUCATE TO SAVE Why is it so important to educate girls?


EDUCATE TO SAVE
Why is it so important to educate girls?

What’s going on?
One of the greatest problems of the indian sub-continentis the lack of education provided to girls. According to the data reported first by the MHRD (Ministry of Human Resources Development) and then by CENSUS, in 2011 around 84 million children were outside the school system, almost 20% of all those who have an educational obligation, according to the norms of the RTE (Right To Education Act). The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education is an act of the Indian Parliament which guarantees free access, and confirmation of its mandatory nature, to education for all those who are between 6 and 14 yearsold.
However, especially towards the end of primary studies, the number of girls attending school is low and indeed the dropouts are numerous. The data iseven more negative when we start talking about secondary education, where 32% of girls do not have access to school, compared to 28% of boys, as highlighted by researcher AnjelaTaneja.
Why?
What determines the dropouts and what prevents many girls from studying?
Reasons can be traced to three macro-areas:
1)      Family responsabilities: traditional gender roles come into play,according to which girls must take care of home and family, and then get married soon. The responsibility however does not stop there, since the parents are often worried about the sexual harassment that girls could experience, bringing dishonor on the family, as reported by Rachel Williams on The Guardian;
2)      Lack of toilet facilities: an other serious problem that leads to poor attendance by female students is the lack of adequate sanitation and the presence of negative myths and beliefs related to puberty and the menstrual cycle;
3)      Priority to the boys: access to the internet and other facilities is often generally poor, therefore the priority is given to the boys, who hence have better access to knowledge, which facilitates their studies.


Why educating girls is so important?
This situation must necessarily be solved because of many reasons. In particular, educating girls would lead to both personal and social benefits. Let’s look atthem in more detail:
v  Economic independence: educated girls can aspire to jobs outside the house, which can give them a salary and thus make them economically independent;
v  Gender equality: among the SDGs there are “quality education” and “gender equality”. Adequate education allows girls and women to become aware of themselves and their abilities, reducing inequalities;
v  Society development: there can be no development within a society, and this cannot be said to be developed, unless there are equal rights and opportunities for women;
v  Social independence: as well as for economic independence, adequate education helps girls to be aware of themselves, their abilities and their rights as women, which emancipates them from traditional logics;
v  Chasing dreams: an educated girl is also a girl who, thanks to her skills and knowledge, can develop aspirations and goals, dreams that are more easily reachable with the right education;
v  No more pay-gap: another key point is the wage difference. With the right education and the right qualifications women can aspire to positions of a certain level, and they can fight to abolish wage differences.
Obviously the reasons for ensuring a (better) education for girls are not only these, but the list would be far too long to enumerate them all. We will therefore limit ourselves to these.
What can be done?
Of course, different interventions are needed to make a change: on the one hand, the role played by NGOs and non-profit associations working on a local scale is very important. As reported by The Atlantic, NGOs and individuals are moving to promote womens’ education,building schools dedicated only to girls. On the other hand, the push must also come from the government: although the problem has been recognized, the indian Government is slow in its response, putting the problemat the bottom of the list ofitspriorities. HEEALS is continioulsy campaigning on the importance of education among childrens ,espicially girls in schools and communuities.
Educated girls are fundamental to achieve a better future for themselves and for all of us, it’s fundamental that everyone understands it.
-Martina Pignatelli
Sources:
-          Why Do Indian Girls Drop Out Of Schools?,The Times Of India
-          Why Girls In India Are Still Missing Out On The EducationTheyNeed, The Guardian
-          The Groups Fighting For Girls’ Education In India, The Atlantic
-          The High Dropout Rate Of Girls In India, AnjelaTaneja
-          Right To Education, righttoeducation.it

Tuesday 15 October 2019

Happy Global Handwashing Day!


October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.

Monday 14 October 2019

Project Wonder Girls !

Wonder Girls - Self Defence & Self Confidence Project ,We need your Kind Support!
"Wonder Girl" A Self defense & Self confidence project.
Your kind support will help to make our girls more #stronger #smarter & #inspiring
By spreading supporting and sharing you are helping many girls.
Please visit below link to support
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wondergirl#/


Wonder Girls - Self Defence & Self Confidence Project ,We need your Kind Support!

"Wonder Girl" A Self defense & Self confidence project. 

Your kind support will help to make our girls more #stronger #smarter & #inspiring

By spreading supporting and sharing you are helping many girls. 

Please visit below link to support 


Friday 11 October 2019

International Day of the Girl Child 2019

The Theme Of International Day of the Girl Child 2019 is "GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable". 






Interested Candidate Looking For Internship /Volunteering/Volunteer travel program At HEEALS Please Contact Us At : communications@heeals.org

MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO OUR CAUSE :http://heeals.org/donate
Please Come Join Us!
Facebook Page :https://www.facebook.com/Heeals/

MDMS: Malnutrition and Solutions


What’s On Your Plate?
In Milan, where I live, lunch consists in a first course (usually pasta or rice, sometimes the much-hated soup), a second plate of meat or fish, a side dish of vegetables and finlly fruit or dessert.
In a dish in Paris we could easily find fish, spinach, potatoes, cheese and bread.
If we were children in Bangkok we could see ourselves served with pork in sweet and sour sauce, rice and a pudding wrapped in banana leaves.

What about India? On 15 August 1995 the NP – NSPE (National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education) was launched. The programthen led, in 2001, to the creation of the MDMS (Mid Day Meal Scheme).Over the years the scheme has undergone some changes and modifications, which led to the current shape of the program, renamed the National Program of Mid Day Meal Scheme: extended to all areas of the territory, with a summer extension in those severley affected by drought, provides for a quantity of food equal to 450 calories and 12 grams of protein per day for at least 200 days a year; all students up to 8th class in the primary school benefit from the program, in every Government school or subsidized school(asreported on the Department of School Education&Literacy web page).
So, what does any Indian student eat? Rice, lentils, roti, fruit and milk once a week. What about proteins? What about eggs?
What’sbad?
Although some improvements have been ascertained with the introduction of the program, as reported on the official page of the Mid Day Meal Scheme in the Findings of Research studies, cases of poor quality in the food served in the schools and malnutrition among children are constantly reported.
This August, a video in which about 100 students were recorded eating roti and salt at lunch, still inside the MDMS, became viral. The scandal lead to the immediate suspension of the teachers and the principal of the school under investigation, and to an official appeal from the National Commission for Human Rights to the Government of Uttar Pradesh: the selected commission then r equested a full report on the matter. However, as reported by the weekly journal The Week,the Government ofUttar Pradesh was already aware of serious cuts within the program. A study conducted on 40 schools in 2016 by GIDS (Giri Institute of Development Studies in Lucknow) has highlighted how“not all school had kitchen sheds due to lack of space and funds; […]. Regarding the availability of food supplies […] of the 40 schools in the study, only 26 had supplies worth a month. On the quality parameter, three in 10 schools described the food as of “average” quality”. The quantity of the meal was also reported to be insufficient […]. […] lack of plates at schools because of which children had to get utensils from home […].”
Another more recent report by the MHRD (Union Ministry of Human Resource Development), dating back to March 2017, found that around 63% of schools still use firewood to cook meals instead of the healthier and greener LPG.
If from the health point of view the risks are clear and obvious, from a social point of view the situation cannot be considered any better: the program has failed to achieve one of its main goals, to improve the number of enrollments to primary school. Indeed, the latest report drafted by CAG (Controller and General Auditor of India) shows how the schools in which the scheme is being put in place record a decline in the registrations in the last five years (from 146.9 million in 2009/2010 to 138.7 million in 2013/2014, as reported by the DownToEarth website).
What’snext?
Given what has been said so far, the need to make changes in the program, or at least to follow it as it was actually designed became increasingly obvious. In particular, deficiencies have been highlights in the amount of food available for meals in schools, as well as its poor quality (some times even worms have been found in children’s dishes).
What would then be necessary to do? First of all, it is clear and evident the importance of increasing the quantity of food served (a 7-8 year old child needs about 1500-1700 kcal per day). An improvement in the quality of food would be of fundamental importance, establishing a chain of controls that can guarantee at least the minimum requirements.
These are us two of the changes that must necessarily be implemented, in the hope that one step at a time India will achieve what the program was created for.

Martina Pignatelli
International Cooperation &Development Student
Italy

Sources:
o   Department of School Education&Literacy, “Mid-Day MealScheme”
o   The Week, “UP govtwasaware of severe shortcomings of mid-day mealscheme”
o   The Indian Express, “Report on Mid-day MealScheme: 63 per centschoolsstill use firewood for cooking”
Down To Earth, “Mid-day mealhasfailed to attractchildren to government schools, says CAG audit

Thursday 10 October 2019

CHILD HEALTH DAY




Child Health Day is a national observance in the United States observed on the first Monday of October annually.
It is rightly said by John F. Kennedy that “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”. The Wealth of a nation is not in its economical and natural resources but it lies undoubtedly in the kind and quality of the health of its children.They will be the creators and shapers of a nation’s tomorrow.
It, therefore, becom esessential for every nation and every society to nurture a child’s development both mentally and physically.It is rightly said that “Charity begins at home”. Therefore, it is crucial that we ensure the mental and physical well-being of our children.

Here are a few ways to nurture a child so as to ensure their mental welfare:
1.    The first and the foremost step involves listening to your child. This provides comfort and assurance to the child. Make sure to express your willingness to talk on any subject .
2.    Secondly, it is necessary to acknowledge the uniqueness of your child. Don't compare the abilities of your child to those of other children. Set goals based on the child's abilities and interests but at the same time also accept limitations.
3.    Thirdly , promote your child's independence and self-worth. Help your child deal with life's peaks and valleys. It is important that  parents show confidence in their child's capability to handle problems and deal with new experiences.
4.    Lastly, it is extremely important to spend time with your child. Try taking out time for one-on-one activities or indulge in doing simple activities that both would enjoy.

Do remember “One child one teacher one book and one pen can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai


The steps taken by the Government to further improve the health condition of children include the following:


1.Focussed attention in 184 High Priority Districts for implementation of Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Health+ Adolescent (RMNCH+A) interventions for achieving improved maternal and child health outcomes. 
2.Name Based Web enabled Tracking of Pregnant Women to ensure antenatal, intranatal and postnatal care and children for immunization to all the children.
3. Mother and Child Protection Card in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development to monitor service delivery for mothers and children.
4.Engagement of more than 8.9 lakhs Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to generate demand and facilitate accessing of health care services by the community including those for children.
5.Village Health and Nutrition Days in rural areas as an outreach activity, for provision of maternal and child health services.
6.Health and nutrition education to promote dietary diversification, inclusion of iron and folate rich food as well as food items that promote iron absorption. 
7. Put in place similar entitlements for all sick infants accessing public health institutions for treatment.
8. Establishment of Newborn care corners  at all health facilities where deliveries take place; Setting up of Special New Born Care Units  and New Born Stabilization Units at appropriate facilities for the care of sick newborn including preterm babies.
9. Promotion of appropriate Infant and young child feeding practices such as early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and age appropriate complementary feeding among young children.
10. Launched IndiaNewborn Action Plan to reduce neonatal mortality and stillbirths.
11. Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight was observed in August 2014 focussing on ORS and Zinc distribution for management of diarrhoea and feeding practices.
12. Integrated Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhoea launched in four States (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan) with highest Child Mortality.

-Priyanka Dalmia 



FOOD AND MOOD

FOOD AND MOOD  By Dr. Pragati (MBBS, MD) The link between diet and emotions stems from the close relationship between brain and gastrointe...