Report: COMMON MAN BECOMES A HERO

‘Thank Mumbai’ Campaign

The challenge was:

• How can we motivate the existing donors to donate regularly
• To appeal to the non donors to donate blood

The solution:

MDACS conducted a ‘thank you Mumbai’ outdoor campaign to thank all the donors who donated blood.

BUS SHELTERS: 1. Tardeo August Kranti Maidan; 2. Walkeshwar inside Terminus;
3. Mumbai Central opp. Shagun Hotel;    4. Grant Road near Gaondevi Police Station

The Platform:

An opportunity was given to the donors to be a part of the ‘Thank Mumbai’ campaign.

All those who donated blood through MDACS’ donation camps during this month were given an opportunity to thank all of Mumbai along with the ‘little girl with thalassemia’.

Backs of buses with photos of Blood Donors

This is mainly to create the awareness that ‘More Blood means More Lives’ and to motivate people to donate blood. A lucky draw was conducted with the names of all donors, some of the lucky donors (chosen through a lucky draw) got a chance to pose with the little girl and their photos were displayed on hoardings, bus shelters, bus backs and newspapers along with their names.

• Bus shelters – 30
• Bus backs – 30
• Hoardings across the city – 22
• Newspapers – 8

These pictures were uploaded on the Facebook Community so the names were tagged.

Result: It created talkability among the donors, their friends and supporters.

Bus shelters around Mumbai with pictures of Blood Donors

Impact of the campaign:

• Posting pictures and names of blood donors on bus shelters, bus backs, hoardings and newspapers have made a hero out of the common man. This has helped motivate a large number of people to come forward to donate blood
• 20 - 25% were new donors in the month of June - July 2011
• There is a remarkable increase in the blood donation this year in June-July as compared to last year ... there is a ___% increase

For an entire month the donors got an opportunity to be on Mumbai Media and spread the word encouraging people to donate blood.

Report: TRAINING FOR PROFESSORS OF RED RIBBON CLUBS

Background

Red Ribbon Clubs are youth groups at colleges who work for spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youth. Since youth is a vulnerable population it becomes essential to communicate with them. Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs), which work under the guidance and leadership of the Communication Department of MDACS, enable us to reach the objective of communicating to the youth.

The Structure

These clubs are formed with the help of professors in colleges who support social work. These professors are called 'Program Officers'

Further, there are students who volunteer to run the awareness program. They are called the 'Peer Educators' as they influence and educate their peers. It is the Peer Educators’ responsibility to conduct awareness drives and get more students to join the club. Those who join the club are called 'Red Ribbon Club Members'.

Since the professors and the students spread awareness about HIV and bring answers to various queries of the students, it becomes essential to conduct intensive 2-day training programs for them so that they are able to convey the right information.

The role of a Professor in a student’s life:

A Professor is not just a teacher of a particular subject. He is also one who guides the students in many different ways. At school, the equation between a teacher and student is one between people of two different generations. But at college, the professor kind of becomes like an elder brother, sister or friend and someone the students can look up to in times of need. Because of this relationship, the students are more open to listening to their professors than anyone else.

This is the very reason why MDACS decided to bring Professors into the equation and trained them to impart the right knowledge to their students on HIV/AIDS and safe sex.

The professors were trained in 2 ways.

NSS Professors Training - Venue: NSS Office, Churchgate

Topics:

1. HIV and AIDS
2. Scenario of HIV in our country
3. Causes
4. Prevention and Treatment
5. Youth Vulnerability
6. Communication with the Youth
7. Behavioral Change Communication
8. Stigma and Discrimination
9. RRC Guidelines

Sensitization Workshop for NSS Program Officers was held on 27th June, 2011 & 170 Professors participated. These Professors will be program officers for RRC at colleges.

Training of Trainers - NSS Program Officers

Over and above the annual training of the professors, there were some professors who expressed an interest of being trainers. They were enthusiastic about taking time out and train those who are in need and have to be trained about HIV. On their request, we specifically conducted a TOT (training of trainers) for the professors.

Training of Trainers for Professors was organized from 25th to 27th May, 2011 where 19 professors were trained.

Day 1:

The first day was fully about information on HIV. All that students need to know about HIV was taught to the professors as knowledge is the best way to fight the spread of any disease.

Day 2:

On the second day, the Professors got to learn the target groups and how to go about helping them. They were also given information on the various services made available by NGOs and other institutions to help fight the spread of HIV.

Day 3:

The third day was an intense training on communication. The professors were taught how to approach youth, talk to them, the ways and means to train them and more importantly, being prepared to answer their very many queries. The professors were especially made aware of the biggest challenge that they would be facing - to influence the youth in such a way as to effectively change their very attitude towards HIV and safe sex. The professors were made aware of their responsibility to ensure that everyone needed to unlearn so many myths and wrong beliefs and be taught the correct information.

Report: TALK TO YOUTH IN THEIR LANGUAGE

This is the age of online promotions and things move like lightning via the World Wide Web. Being aware of the opportunities galore, we launched our blood donation campaign through the most popular of social media networking sites – facebook and twitter. And then there is the mobile phone – the most important accessory that youth cannot survive without. Sending suitable SMSs was a direct hit. Read on to find out more on these…

Facebook:

An online opportunity was created for donors as well as supporters of the cause to come to a common platform and interact.

A Face Book Group called ‘Blood Donors Mumbai’ and later a Face Book Community page by the same name were started to promote the campaign.

Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Donors-Mumbai/193924653991296

Through this platform the objective is to motivate more people to donate blood and those who are in need can also appeal at this platform.

While the group has around 300 members, Blood Donors Mumbai Community page has about 100 people ‘LIKE’ing it.

Promotions were made through these two pages to keep the public informed about where they can find the Blood Mobile Van on a given day and also the value of donating blood. The main motto promoted was “Blood Donation Saves Lives”. This platform was also used to thank the people of Mumbai for their contribution.

SMS Campaign:

Pin Code targeted SMSs – 20 special SMSs were created with the name of the blood bank and sent to specific target audiences as per their Pin Codes. Hence people living in a particular area could donate blood at the nearest bank. This gave excellent results with a lot of people turning up at blood banks to donate blood.

Twitter:

Twitter Handle @blooddonorsmum was recently created to spread awareness of blood donation. This is connected to the Facebook account and whatever messages are posted on fb will also automatically reflect here.

Impact:

• Social Media activities on Facebook and Twitter have helped take the campaign forward. This has resulted in reaching out to the masses and has created more awareness amongst the Mumbai public. This is a perennial activity and will ensure the sustainability of the campaign throughout the year. It will also be effective on a long term basis.
• SMSs targeted people living in different areas in the city. This ensured that there was good response all around.

Report: YOUTH BECOME A PART OF THE BLOOD DONATION DRIVE

Mobilization of the youth to donate blood:

It is ideal to have people aged from 18 to 35 years to donate blood to promote good health. That is why our blood donation drive targeted the youth more than anyone else. In order to do that, we had tie-ups with large companies with big numbers of young working personnel and colleges where the students were very keen to participate in the drive.

Corporate Blood Donation Drive:

A blood donation rally was kicked off in corporate offices on June 14, 2011. This continued throughout the whole month till July 14, 2011. These were at different branches of Bank of America; RadioCity; Mediacom; Mafoi& others. The blood donation drive conducted at these corporate offices was very successful. The maximum blood was collected at 247 Corporate Park, Vikroli. There were 233 donors at the corporate park in 1 day.

College Blood donation Drive:

World Blood Donor Month also saw donation drives in various colleges in order to motivate and bring about behavior change in the youth of today. A number of youngsters were motivated and they became a very important part of the campaign.

List of Corporate offices

1. Mediacom
2. Bank of America - Logitech Park
3. Bank of America - Paladium
4. Bank of America & Mafoi - Prism
5. Center One
6. Radio city
7. 247 Park
8. Lodestar

HIGHLIGHT: 247 Park at Vikroli: 233 bottles of blood in 7 hours

List of Colleges

1. Kreeti College, Mahim
2. Ruia College
3. Dahanukar College
4. Nirmala College
5. Vaz College
6. KJ Mittal College
7. National College

List of Malls 

1. Nirmal Lifestyle
2. Infinity Mall
3. D-mart
4. Mindspace
5. Hub Mall

List of Public locations

1. Nariman Point
2. Worli BDD
3. Alfa Market
4. Fashion Street
5. Bandra Kurla Complex
6. Siddhivinayak
7. MIDC Seepez
8. Gateway of India
9. Nehru Planetorium

10. Shivaji Nagar
11. Eros Cinema
12. Mahim
13. CST
14. Dadar East
15. Churchgate
16. Santacruz
17. Vile Parle (E)
18. Kandivli, Thakur Complex
19. Malad



List of Railway Stations / Bus Depots 

1. Bandra Station
2. Andheri Bus Depot
3. Mankurd Station
4. Kalyan Station
5. Bandra Bus Stand
6. Bandra Band Stand
7. Andheri Bus Depot


Impact:

Having a van parked right at the venue was very convenient for one and all to donate blood on the spot. This brought about a massive increase in the percentage of blood donors.

 

Newspaper Cutting 1

Newspaper Cutting 2

Report: BLOOD DONATION LAUNCH

Blood Donation Van

BLOOD DONATION VAN

The spanking new Blood Donation Van was inaugurated and flagged off on June 14, 2011 from the MDACS premises by Dr. S.S. Kudalkar, Project Director, MDACS and Dy. Municipal Commissioner, MCGM. The press was invited for the event while a PR drive was initiated around the event including FB & Twitter to encourage Young Mumbai to donate blood. During the launch at MDACS, the employees from MDACS, MSACS & AVERT Society came forward to donate blood. Over 40 donors from the 3 societies donated blood on World Blood Donor Day itself.

It was a pleasure to see the societies promoting the cause of Blood Donation were themselves donating blood and set an example for the others.

From the 15th of June onwards the state-of-the-art van roamed the streets of Mumbai to raise awareness among the public as well as to promote donation of blood.

There were volunteers with the van that gave certificates reading 'Thank You Mumbai' with the list of blood banks to the public. When enquired about why they were being thanked, they were told that they were thanked for donating blood and then led to the van. This was a take from the TVC of the little thalassemia girl. They could either donate blood in the van or keep the certificate (with the blood bank address) and donate in the blood bank.

Gift Certificate

While the Blood Mobile was thoroughly utilized for the blood donation drive during the World Blood Donor Month, it will continue to do the good work by getting around Mumbai throughout the year.

During this month, the Blood Mobile carried out donation activities at strategic locations in Mumbai such as:

• Bandstand, Carter Road, Mahim Church and more, where crowds come together
• Shopping Malls
• BPOs / Corporate Parks
• Centre One Mall

Newspaper Cuttings:

Report: WORLD BLOOD DONOR MONTH

BACKGROUND:

14th June is observed as World blood Donors Day. The purpose of the celebration on 14th June each year is to pay tribute to all blood donors around the world and make them feel part of a wider group of altruistic donors. It is an opportunity to express gratitude to those who donate their blood in order to save lives, without expecting anything in return. The overall objective of WBDD is to increase awareness concerning the concept of altruistic blood donation.  The main objective is to arrange blood donation camps considering ‘More Blood Means More Lives’. We celebrated World Blood Donor month from 14th June, to 14th July, 2011.

OBJECTIVE:

To arrange blood donation camps and encourage the youth of Mumbai to donate blood.

COMMUNICATION PLATFORM:

For World Blood Donor Day (June 14, 2011) and Month (June 14-July 14, 2011), the plan was to mobilize the people of Mumbai to donate blood by using the Accha Lagta Hai campaign that featured the ‘little thalassemia girl’. This video has a strong recall in the minds of the public and worked very well for this year’s blood donation campaign.

THEME:

The little girl invited all the public of Mumbai through an appeal – she tells the people of Mumbai to join her in her effort by saying “Aao milkar kahein… achcha lagta hai!”

IMPACT OF THE CAMPAIGN:

1. Of the total blood donors who donated blood in the month, 20 - 25% were new donors who have never donated blood before.
2. There is a remarkable increase in the blood donation this year in June-July as compared to last year - there has been a 20% increase

PRESS CUTTINGS AROUND THE EVENT:

Report: RED RIBBON CLUB - PEER EDUCATOR TRAINING PROGRAM

Background

Red Ribbon Clubs are youth groups at colleges who work for spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youth. Since youth is a vulnerable population it becomes essential to communicate with them. Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs), which work under the guidance and leadership of the Communication Department of MDACS, enable us to reach the objective of communicating to the youth.

The Structure

These clubs are formed with the help of professors in colleges who support social work. These professors are called 'Program Officers'

Further, there are students who volunteer to run the awareness program. They are called the 'Peer Educators' as they influence and educate their peers. It is the Peer Educators’ responsibility to conduct awareness drives and get more students to join the club. Those who join the club are called 'Red Ribbon Club Members'.

Since the professors and the students spread awareness about HIV and bring answers to various queries of the students, it becomes essential to conduct intensive 2-day training programs for them so that they are able to convey the right information.

Mumbai (MDACS) has formed RRCs in different categories of colleges:

1. NSS Colleges
2. Engineering Colleges
3. Science, Arts, Commerce Colleges
4. Pharmacy Colleges
5. Nursing Colleges
6. Colleges through NGOs who are experts in working with youth and adolescents

The Training for the Peer Educators is conducted in phases.

They are trained on HIV and on Communication aspects so that they are equipped to carry information to their peers and friends and further into the community.

The Training Plan for Phase I - NSS colleges is as below:

NSS Colleges were divided into 11 batches and the 2-day training for given for every batch. Below is the list of dates on which each batch was trained.

BATCH NO.1 – July 4 & 5, 2011
BATCH NO. 2 – July 6 & 7, 2011
BATCH NO. 3 – July 11 & 12, 2011
BATCH NO. 4 – July 14 & 15, 2011
BATCH NO. 5 – July 16 & 17, 2011
BATCH NO. 6 – July 18 & 19, 2011
BATCH NO. 7 – July 20 & 21, 2011
BATCH NO. 8 – July 22 & 23, 2011
BATCH NO. 9 – July 25 & 26, 2011
BATCH NO. 10 – July 27 & 28, 2011
BATCH NO. 11 – July 29 & 30, 2011

The Agenda that the RRCs have to follow for the year is as follows:

RRC GUIDELINES AND ACTIVITY CALENDAR 

1. Training provided by MDACS – Annex 1

2. RRC Committee – Annex 2

The RRC Committee will have the following members:

• Chairperson: Principal/ Head of the Institute.
• Joint Secretary: Female Teacher
• Joint Secretary: Male Teacher
• Local Doctor
• Convener: NSS Program Officer (PO)
• Joint Convener: Student Leader and Peer Educators (5)

Target responsibility of the committee

• To form core committee of above 10 members
• To form associate committee of 30 NSS students (who are responsible to conduct all activities)
• To get membership of 500 students per RRC in your college (both NSS and Non NSS)

Responsibilities of the Committee

• To meet thrice a year
• 1st meeting in July (after MDACS PO Workshop)
     •  PO will explain Objective of RRC
             •  PO will discuss calendar of activities
             •  PO will discuss rewards and recognition of members
             •  Finance utilization and submission of SOE to MDACS
             •  Discuss target given by MDACS

• 2nd meeting in November
             •  Report (as per format provided by MDACS) of 1st half of activities and photographs along with SOE

• 3rd meeting in February
             •  Report (as per format provided by MDACS) of 2nd half of activities and photographs along with SOE

3. RRC Calendar – Annex 3

4. Guideline for conducting activities (Annex 4)

5. Utilization of finances (Annex 5)

Every college was to be given Rs. 8900/- for conducting activities. The money was released in June.

The amount was utilized for:

• Travel
• Snacks in meetings
• Gifts & Bouquet for Guests
• Documentation and printouts
• Photographs
• Certificates to winners of competition
• Honorarium to resource persons who conduct workshops / Judges

Rewards and Recognition Program (Prizes):

Prize 1: Best RRC of the year

Criteria:
1. No. of RRC members in your college: 500 members
2. Regular activities strictly as per calendar
3. Reports and photos of activities
4. Timely submission of SOE
5. Addl. / special initiative by RRC members

Prize 2: Best Student Leader of the year

Criteria:
1. Participation in arranging each & every RRC activity
2. Addl. / special initiative by Student Leader
3. Active Participation in MDACS activities
4. No. of activities conducted
5. No. of members involved in activities
6. Timely submission of SOE & Reports

Prize 3: Best Peer Educator of the year

Criteria:
1. Participation in arranging each & every RRC activity
2. Addl. / special initiative by RRC Peer Educator
3. Active Participation in MDACS activities
4. No. of activities conducted
5. No. of members involved in activities

The above 3 awards were announced separately for all 3 zones of NSS:
   
1. Mumbai City
2. Mumbai Central Suburb
3. Mumbai Western Suburb

Next Steps:

All the RRC Peer Educators will be trained in a 2-day training program at MDACS premises in a phase-wise manner.

Report: HITGUJ AROGYACHE – 2-day Advocacy Workshop

HITGUJ AROGYACHE

What is mainstreaming HIV?:

Mainstreaming HIV is a process that enables development sector to address the causes and effects of HIV in an effective and sustained manner, both through their usual work and within their workplace.

The strategy is to engage different sectors in HIV and AIDS response. It is initiated and sustained by commitment at various levels, particularly among decision makers.

MDACS have conducted mainstreaming activities in the following sectors:

·         The Public Sector projects include MCGM, BEST, Mumbai Police, CBWE, MBPT

·         The Private Sector projects include Crompton Greaves, Tata Power, Ambuja Cement , Cine Jr. & Sr. Artists and Directors, Media (Print & Electronic), Construction Industry, Micro biologists & Pathologists Association.

·         The Informal Sector includes Non HIV NGOs, Community Based Organizations, Faith Based Organizations (Sikh Community), Barber Association, Hotel Boys & Employees, Contractual Labors of Solid Waste Dept, Naka workers, HRG (Truckers, Migrants, TG),Nirman Mazdoor Sanghatan, Central Railway Mazdoor Sanghatan.

Dr. Sunita Shanbhag, Professor, PSM Department, KEM Hospital 

HITGUJ AROGYACHE:

This report is all about the Advocacy Workshop called HITGUJ AROGYACHE for the key persons of MAVIM (Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal undertaken by GOM).

The objective of this two-day workshop was to empower women with the correct knowledge as they are the ones who are best suited for spreading the word amongst their own; they are the ones who have the capacity to educate their families and it is the women around whom the families revolve.

Women are considered the weaker sex and hence more vulnerable in our society. At the same time, they are the ones who take care of the health of their family members. This was the main reason to educate women on all these issues that affect the health of people.

Objectives:

1.      To empower women with all the knowledge on HIV/AIDS – prevention, treatment, care, support, STI management, safer sex practice and MDACS services that are available for all this.

2.      To make women aware of the stigma and discrimination that could occur in the society and sometimes even at home.

3.      To get them to participate even at the planning stage on how to spread HIV/AIDS information to as many people as possible.

4.      To encourage women to share the knowledge that they have gained and impart the information to the community.

5.      To impart correct and consistent flow of knowledge to Self-help Groups (SHGs) as they reach out to a very large section of the society on a daily basis.

The Venue & Date:

According to MAVIM, Chembur is central to all the women participants and hence it was decided to conduct the workshop at Hotel Tara Punjab, Sion-Trombay Road, Chembur, on April 26 & 27, 2011 from 10 am to 6 pm on both days.

The Target Group:

The target group included 9 Sahayoginis; 2 staff members; representatives from 26 pockets; representatives of Basti Level Committee (VLC), Loksanchalit Sadhan Kendra (CMRC) and NGOs. There were a total of 35 participants including all the above.

Methods used to impart knowledge:

There were power-point presentations; songs & spots, lectures, question & answer sessions, group discussions, group work and presentations by participants to ensure that no stone was unturned to empower the women present at the workshop.

Dr. Shanbhag conducted the workshop on Day One

DAY ONE:

·         The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Dilip Kadam, Joint Director, Basic Services, MDACS; Dr. Sunita Shanbhag, Professor, PSM Department, KEM Hospital; Ms. Sangita Bhongade, District Coordinating Officer Mumbai, MAVIM; one of the Self-Help Group member and Ms. Dnyaneshwari Sonawane, Consultant (CSM), MDACS.

·         Pre-Questionnaire was filled by the participants.

·         An introductory session was conducted for the participants.

·         Dr. Sunita Shanbhag, Professor, PSM Department, KEM Hospital, conducted a session on Basic Facts on HIV/AIDS.

·         Mrs. Meena Maraskole spoke about Stigma & Discrimination while she cited examples from her own life experiences. The song ‘Tod Do Deeware’ was played on video at this point to underline its importance in society.

·         Dr. Rajashree Sankhe, DD, STI, MDACS conducted a session on Sex & Sexuality; STI Management.

·         The last session was on Effective Communication that was conducted by Mr. Siddharth More, Regional Director, CBWE (Central Board of Workers Education).

The audience is totally attentive during the workshop conducted by Dr. Shanbhag

DAY TWO:

·         There was a Question and Answer session on the MDACS Services that was conducted by Mr. Satyam Palaspagar. Prizes were distributed for the same.

·         Mr. Nitin Dhule and Mr. Kunal Endait from the Lawyers’ Collective conducted a session on the Legal Aspects & National Policy on HIV / AIDS.

·         The third session was a group work & presentation on ‘Working with HIV/AIDS’. This session was led by Dr. Sunita Shanbhag, Ms. Sangita Bhongade and Ms. Dnyaneshwari Sonawane. The participants were divided into 5 groups that were a mix of Sahayoginis; Selp-Help Group members, MAVIM staff and VLC members. Each group had to choose a Team Leader and also a name for their group.

1.      Sakhi

2.      Maitreen

3.      Disha

4.      Jagruti

5.      Roshni

·         Each group was told to work on the following areas and make their presentations accordingly – Current situation; difficulties faced and action plan.

·         It was agreed that AROGYA SAKHI will reach to community by observing Haldi-Kumkum on the birth anniversaries of Savitribhai Phule and Dr. Ambedkar. Haldi-Kumkum is a typical Indian tradition and women keenly relate to this. An invitation for this occasion is very rarely refused and this will ensure a large number of women audience to whom the subject may be introduced comfortably. In the meanwhile, they will also follow the action plan provided by MDACS.

·         They all shared their difficulties regards space and money that were required to implement the program.

·         The Post Questionnaire was filled by the participants after the presentations were completed.

·         Oral feedback was taken by DCO and MAVIM.

·         This was followed by the Valedictory function.

·         Finally, the workshop ended with a Vote of Thanks.

The women formed into groups to create presentations

Impact of the workshop:

·         In the beginning the women were rather reluctant to hear anything related to HIV/AIDS and were not very open to watch the spots related to this.

·         Many misconceptions associated with HIV and some common questions that arise within people’s minds were answered by resource persons. Some of them were:

1.      Is it safe to attend the funeral of a person who has died of AIDS? Will it create social stigma?

2.      Why are dead bodies of AIDS patients wrapped in plastic?

3.      Questions on menstruation cycle – duration, problems, whether sex is okay during MC? How is it related to HIV? Menopause, white discharge and more.

·         The greatest achievement was that more women were invited by the participants to attend the workshop on Day Two as they had found Day One very informative and necessary for life. The program was an unmitigated success.

What is being attempted is to reach out to more and more women who in turn will spread the knowledge to their relatives, friends and counterparts in the various associations. This way, the movement is expected to spread virally, creating a tremendous impact on society.

This presentation is all about plans of action on how the groups will target the public with information on HIV/AIDS

Follow-Up Plan:

MDACS plans to continue Mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS issue among ‘WOMEN’. The plan for 2011-12 is to reach out to 7000 women beneficiaries of 500 SHGs (Self-Help Groups) that are found all around Mumbai. They will give correct and consistent knowledge to their family members. This means that MDACS will actually reach out to 21,000 people (SC, Minority and others from slum areas & BPL category) of Mumbai.

MDACS & MAVIM will work together for the cause of HIV/AIDS in 26pockets of MAVIM.

·         Central: 10 pockets in Mulund, Bhandup, Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Sion, Worli, Byculla&Mazgaon.

·         Harbour: 6 pockets in Sewree, Wadala, Chembur, Chunabhatti, Govandi&Mankhurd.

·         Western: 10 pockets in Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Vile Parle, Santacruz, Khar&Bandra.

Group photo of the participants along with Dr. Shanbhag, Facilitator & Ms. Dnyaneshwari Sonawane, Consultant, CSM

Strategy ahead:

·         A campaign called HITGUJ AROGYACHE has been introduced for easier entry in the community as everyone is keen to have good health.

·         The 35 master trainers who have been educated in this workshop have been given the special identity of AROGYA SAKHI (your friend in health) for effective implementation of the program.

·         Special IEC material will be printed and distributed for AROGYA SAKHI and the people they plan to reach out to. These will be in Marathi, Hindi and Urdu.

·         About 160 peer educators will be trained through 4 more workshops that will be coming up soon to ensure that they reach out to the target.

·         SANGATI is a quarterly magazine that is published by MAVIM. It reaches out to all their beneficiaries as well as partners. One issue will be dedicated to HIV/AIDS.

·         Quarterly meetings will be conducted for reviewing the progress.