“A COVID Free village”
The village of Bhasvantwadi, in Tuljapur taluka of Osmanabad district has made its way to be a COVID free village, despite being surrounded by four other villages which have a high number of COVID cases. When asked how they accomplished this, the women leaders of the village exclaimed,” We all saw it as ‘My village, My responsibility’, & a sense of responsibility towards the village was deep embedded in our heart.“ But how did they manage to do it?
“Though initially it was very difficult to convince villagers, as they would just neglect us & not listen to anything that we said. When we went for household visits people would just turn away.”
“Women leaders of Swayam Shikshan Prayog – SSP, Asha workers and COVID Sahayata Samiti members conducted regular meetings and discussions to find different ways to convince the villagers and bring a sense of awareness among them. We worked as a team and decided we should never give up, as it was the only way to keep our village safe.”
Keeping strict vigilance on the movement of the people and continuous awareness drives have brought a remarkable change in people’s attitude. Now the villagers have grown a sense of responsibility and all are working together to fight this crisis.
Questions around livelihoods brought by the limitations on movement were swiftly solved by support from local government, who worked tirelessly to allot alternate livelihood opportunities for the community within the village without the need for them to venture out.
A Big salute to the women leaders, ASHA workers and the local government who have come together to protect their village, succeeding to keep it COVID free.