The Anaemia Project: Information Collection

PHASE ONE: INFORMATION COLLECTION

Right now I am wrapping up my information collection and starting to analyse my data, so I thought I would share my sources and all that I have understood. My information has come from a variety of sources, namely:

Visit to site and interaction with target audience

A visit to the the largest slum in Ahmedabad, Ramapir-No-Tekro, (Near Vaadaj Bus Station) also known as the Tekro, home to a population of 1.5 lakh. This huge slum is not a new settlement, it has been around for around fifty years. However, it has been growing at an alarming rate with migrants coming in great numbers. Most of these consist of people from Gujarat and Rajasthan. People of many religions live together here and surprisingly they do not have clashes. Hindus are in the majority but I also had a chance to see Christians. Muslims are a minority but have a presence in the Tekro. Initially the slum lacked basic amenities, but the government has now provided most of the basic necessities like electricity, water and sanitation etc. However, due to the ignorance of the people, much of their problems remained to be solved.

On the visit, I observed each woman having an average of 5-7 children. I also spotted some of their small industries, a rag-picking 'kaarkhaana' as they called it, firewood sheds, houses of potters, etc. I also spoke to social workers around the area and doctors who had set up small clinics. The nearest government hospital, clinic and pharmacy is quite far off at Usmanpura.

An organization called Manav Sadhna is trying to reform the area. More can be read on this here: Manav Sadhna / Ramapir-No-Tekro. I also visited the Manav Sadhna community centre and one of the Anganwadis, where I interacted with a few women and children.

A girl of 18 chopping firewood in her Father's shed. The firewood is later sold to the households in the slum.

A slum-dwelling woman with some of her many children.

A glimpse of the Tekro at around 8 in the morning.

[EDIT]

At a later phase of my project I zeroed in on Anaemia being a problem I recognised that needed focus. I had the opportunity to meet slum-dwelling women (Bombay Hotel, Behrampura) through an organization called Sanchetana set up by Dr. Haneef Lakdawala. A few days were spent with a number of CHWs (Community Health Workers) and women from the slums who came to speak with me and this was far more rewarding as a certain comfort level was already achieved. On the first day I spoke to members of a Muslim community and the next day member of a Hindu community. We talked at length about their pregnancies, experience with IFA (Iron & Folic acid tablets) and the improvements they've seen. They also briefed me about the foods they ate, and how they tried to incorporate iron into their diet. Most of them were unaware about Anaemia until Sanchetana came into the picture. I was well-informed by the CHWs about their iron intake, why it is so low in women, what side-effects are seen with tablets, why the government's IFA distribution programme is not efficient enough and what foods aid/ hamper the absorption of iron in the body.