Author: Rakhi Ghosh
Help desks and counselling reduce gender-based violence
Bringing down gender-based violence (GBV) in remote Odisha villages, “GBV warriors” set up help desks, offer counselling and point victims towards Sakhi centres that offer medical and legal help.
When COVID-19 reaches the vulnerable tribes in hilltops
Despite government’s efforts, reluctance to get tested and isolated, and not adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, has led to an increase in infection among Odisha’s particularly vulnerable tribal groups
Mandatory registering on Co-WIN hampers universal vaccination
Erratic mobile connectivity, digital illiteracy and lack of devices to access the portal have made inclusivity in vaccination impossible in remote villages of Odisha
Lack of facilities in villages hamper COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment
An inadequate rural healthcare system, a lack of awareness about the spread of coronavirus, combined with the difficulty in home isolation leads to increase in number of infections in Odisha
Solar energy enables medical service during power cuts
With sustainable solar power, community health center is able to treat patients uninterruptedly, provide emergency care, bring down diesel expenditure for generators, and serve as a model
Transitional houses help villagers rebuild life after cyclone
Villagers have rebuilt their life after Cyclone Fani, by building transitional shelters with local material. Building by themselves has given them dignity, besides a safe space
Volunteers in Odisha ensure stranded migrants do not go hungry
Social service personnel working on migration issues network with philanthropists, administrators and volunteers to ensure stranded Odia migrants and other state migrants in Odisha are fed
Closure of seasonal hostels leaves migrants’ children in the lurch
While the lockdown left migrants stranded at destination sites, their children staying in seasonal hostels had to be sheltered with relatives or had to fend for themselves
Seed festivals put spotlight on conservation of indigenous seeds
As we commemorate International Women’s Week, in remote villages of Odisha, women farmers, traditional custodians of seeds, are conserving indigenous seeds, reviving soil health and nutritional biodiversity
Community kitchens help tribal children overcome malnutrition
Rough terrains hampering access to anganwadi centers and hence nutritious food, men bring anganwadi ration to the village; women cook in a common facility and feed the children, to fight malnutrition
Local livelihoods curb exploitative labor trafficking
To stop poor villagers from becoming bonded migrant labor, the Odisha government needs to strengthen latest steps to cut out middlemen and boost the rural jobs guarantee program with higher wages
Stigmatized Lodha tribe starts new life trajectory
Education and sports have helped the Lodhas, a particularly vulnerable tribal community that was forced to lead an excluded life because they were stigmatized as thieves, to increasingly join the mainstream
Child cabinets bring students at work back to school
Poverty forces villagers in Kendrapara district to pull children out of school to work and add to household income. Awareness and counseling are now sensitizing parents to let children continue their education
Bhunjia women need better care after childbirth
Women of Odisha’s forest-dwelling tribes face a greater health risk because of their preference for childbirth at home. Counseling by health workers is now slowly helping new mothers get better postnatal care
Why Dongria Kondh women prefer childbirth at home
Lack of easy access to government healthcare in Kalyansinghpur, in addition to cultural and dietary differences in hospitals, is forcing Dongria Kondh women in remote villages to opt out of institutional delivery
Migrant children get a shot at continuing education
A scheme by the Odisha government has enabled children of migrant workers to continue their education at destination sites, preventing child labor and ensuring continuity in education
Oriya bonded labor languish after being rescued
Migrant workers from western Odisha who are rescued from bondage at destination sites continue to languish in poverty for want of rural employment and rehabilitation support
Maternity homes provide safe haven to tribal women
Pregnant women from tribal villages in Kandhamal that lack roads and mobile phone connectivity have found a safe shelter in intermediary maternity homes that prepare them for institutional delivery
Child marriage ban helps Gond girls pursue dreams
In Gond tribal villages where child marriages were the norm till recently, a resolution by elders to ban marriages before legal age has helped girl children to continue their education
Pipli craftsmen adapt to modern needs for better prospects
Despite falling demand, applique craftsmen and traders of Pipli in Odisha are trying to ensure that their handicraft evolves to satisfy changing aesthetic needs, with hopes for a better future