HEALTH – SOCIETY FOR NATURE EDUCATION & HEALTH

Promoting Youth-Driven Community Changes for HIV Prevention:

Location: Salia Sahi Slum, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

The “Promoting Youth-Driven Community Changes for HIV Prevention” project, implemented by the Society for Nature, Education and Health (SNEH) in Salia Sahi, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, has concluded. The initiative aimed to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and other health issues while actively engaging local youth in community development. Throughout the project, Youth Cell members organized various activities such as World AIDS Day observances, wall painting campaigns, cleanliness drives, distribution of health-themed greeting cards, street plays on HIV/AIDS awareness, counselling sessions on menstrual health, and health camps addressing HIV/AIDS and other health concerns.

These efforts helped dispel misconceptions, break long-standing taboos, and encourage open discussions on sexually transmitted diseases, sanitation, and nutrition. As a result, community awareness improved, and young people emerged as leaders of positive change. SNEH trained 40 youths (both boys and girls) from nine habitations of Salia Sahi to take on grassroots leadership roles. These young leaders acted as change agents, spreading awareness and strengthening peer learning networks. Their capacity was further enhanced through structured programs such as mentoring for holistic development, peer educator training, safeguarding and “Do No Harm” principles, self-improvement initiatives, and team-building exercises. These interventions fostered confidence, leadership skills, and a sense of purpose among participants. To address menstrual health awareness, SNEH celebrated Raja Utsav on June 14, 2025, focusing on breaking stigmas surrounding menstruation.

The event provided a platform for women to relax, participate in activities, and showcase their talents while promoting awareness about female health. Adopting the “Discover, Develop and Deliver” approach, SNEH identified individual talents, nurtured their skills, and encouraged youth to lead community initiatives. The Youth Cell also organized a candle march in memory of a local Peace Committee member who lost her life during the Rath Yatra in Puri. During a dengue outbreak, Youth Cell members collaborated with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to conduct surveys in vulnerable areas. Ten members were selected for this initiative, contributing to community safety while gaining valuable experience. Overall, the project significantly strengthened community participation, leadership, and social cohesion. It not only improved health awareness among residents but also transformed the participating youth into responsible and proactive community leaders, fostering lasting positive change.

Health and Livelihood program

Location: G. Udayagiri Block, Kandhamal District, Odisha

SNEH began its peace-building intervention in the G. Udayagiri Block of Kandhamal district in Odisha, in the immediate aftermath of horrifying communal conflicts in 2008. Initiatives on conflict resolution and restoration of communal harmony and peace were undertaken in the beginning. Later, endemic issues like malnutrition, health, hygiene and sanitation, and livelihood strengthening activities were also included in the intervention.

SNEH initially focused on women and child healthcare in 10 villages of the Ratingia G.P of G. Udayagiri block (the Infant Mortality Rate in Kandhamal district is the highest in the state). Pregnant women and lactating mothers have been included as the main stakeholders of the programme, and both curative as well as preventive healthcare practices have been adopted to improve the health status of the target population. A convergent approach was followed to integrate the intervention with government programs like Mamata and Janani Surakshya Yojnas. Various awareness and sensitization programs have been undertaken through trainings, workshops, camps, rallies and events relating to nutrition, health, sanitation and mother and childcare.

The main source of livelihood of the people of the district is agriculture and the collection of Non-timber Forest Produce (NTFP). Not having a rail head, Kandhamal has poor connectivity with the other districts of Odisha. Only 12% of its total area is cultivable, while 71% comprises forests and the rest is barren land. The farmers are mostly marginal or landless share-croppers who adopt shifting cultivation on the hill slopes. After a harvest of paddy in October-end, the rural workforce migrates to the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana in search of work.

SNEH has introduced modern farming practices through popularisation of SRI (System of Rice Intensification) and row transplantation of paddy. Farmers have been trained in ‘natural farming’ through the use of Indigenous Micro Organisms (IMO) prepared by using locally-sourced materials. This new technology has also contributed to improve the health and nutrition of the local people.

SNEH has also introduced new cash crops like maize, sunflower, pulses and mushroom in the area through crop diversification training programs. Capacity-building programs for women farmers have been organized to benefit the village women who have formed Self Help Groups (SHGs) linked to local banks. Vocational training programs like masonry, mobile-handset repair and IT and computer training have been organized to reinforce the livelihood activities of the youth of Kandhamal district.

NUHM Mahila Arogya Samiti

Location: Paradeep Municipal Area, Odisha

SNEH has been identified by the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), Government. of Odisha, to take steps for the formation and capacity-building of Mahila Arogya Samitis (MAS) in the Paradeep municipal area. Seventeen MAS’ have been formed in the 17 slums of the area. SNEH has also sensitized the dwellers of another 22 slums on health-related issues, superstitions, maternal healthcare, new-born care and the welfare schemes of the Central and State governments through staging of Pala (a folk dance form) and organizing slum meetings. The meetings, which are informative and participatory, are conducted by SNEH’s trained personnel, and are attended by community leaders, local corporators and district officials.

ASHA Training Program

Location: Kanjiakana village, Jagatsinghpur District, Odisha

SNEH’s office at Kanjiakana village in Jagatsinghpur, Odisha, has also been designated a District Training Site (DTS), a training and facilitation hub to carry out field training for Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers under the National Health Mission scheme in Jagatsinghpur. ASHA workers are trained in reproductive health, maternal health, newborn care, child and adolescent health. The trainings, which are completely residential and participatory, are led by experts from related fields are hired for the programs.

Rural Health Clinic

Location: Kanjiakana Village, Jagatsinghpur District, Odisha

Following the devastation of Odisha by the super-cyclone of 1999, SNEH set up a Health Clinic in Kanjiakana village of Jagatsinghpur district, the area that was the worst-hit. The clinic provides free healthcare services, including medication and support for critical ailments, and is manned by a doctor, a pharmacist and a trained woman health worker. SNEH has also extended healthcare services through its trained health workers and TBAs, to support the government health drives on HIV/AIDS, Pulse Polio, Hepatitis-B and other programs. SNEH’s on-ground staff have been sensitizing and conducting outreach programs in the local villages on health, hygiene, sanitation and nutrition.

Six hundred seventy seven children and over 2,700 adults benefited from the clinic’s round-the-clock services in 2016. Children get frequent health check-ups, and are provided with free medication, along with life-saving treatments, as and when required.