Aparna Paul dons a separate identity-everyone in her village addresses her as Doctor Didi. Aparna always wanted to do something for her village community and her dream came true when she was selected as a Swastha Sohayika (a health volunteer) in her community.

At the beginning, she received a training of five days from Bandhan. After the completion of the training, she started rendering her service to the village community as a Swastha Sohayika. She gets training twice a year with the other Swastha Sohayika and she finds the trainings very useful. Every month, she visits 200-250 households in her community and listens to their health woes. One of her prime responsibility is to reinforce the prime messages discussed in the health forums at individual household level.

She discusses some of the basic health tips like family planning, neo natal care, water and sanitation, care of sick children, infant and young child feeding, with the villagers. She also motivates the pregnant mothers to have their normal deliveries at the local government hospital. She also promotes physical well being by distributing medicines to the village community. Aparna is very happy to receive respect from the community and the changes that have occurred in her life after she became a Swastha Sohayika.

She says that there has been a great transformation in the thought process of the community people. Earlier, women in the interiors used to conceal most of their health problems because of shyness .part of village used to keep their mouth shut regarding any kind of health problems. Now, women in her village feel free to discuss their problems with Aparna and seek solutions.

      

      

Mafuja Begum has been regularly attending the health forums organized by Bandhan's Health Community Organizers for the last two years. Her sister has been a victim of polio because of ignorance and she does not want to ensure the same for her two year old daughter.

Mafuja is enlightened by issues like pneumonia, family planning, neo natal care, water and sanitation, care of sick children, infant and young child feeding discussed in the health forums. Mafuja says Earlier, I was ignorant of these issues. But now, I feel enriched. I can easily apply the health tips at home and ensure a sound health for myself and my daughter. At present, she is expecting her second child. She says- Bandhan is teaching me how to take care of myself during these days. I want to give birth to my child in the local government hospital.

Now she no longer gets petrified when her daughter falls sick. All thanks to the Swastha Sohayika who visits her every week- she takes her children to the local doctor as and when required. She is also well informed of the symptoms of the common diseases that might inflict either her or her children.

      

      

To do something worthwhile for her community ...... that was Abeda Begum's only dream. Health conditions in her small hamlet located in Howrah, West Bengal was in a deplorable state. People were deprived of the knowledge of primary healthcare and existence of government health centres. Lack of awareness about quality health care had also augmented health problems in her hamlet to an appreciable extent.

In 2007, Bandhan had launched a health program in her hamlet to improve the health conditions. Through the program, it targeted the village community with special focus on woman and child. At that time, Bandhan was looking for interested poor women who would volunteer as Swastha Sohayika (health volunteers). Abeda saw this as a good opportunity to serve her community and volunteered to be a Swastha Sohayika. Her prime responsibility is to spread health awareness in the health community through health forums at the community level. She also visited at least 250-300 households in a month propagating the health messages introduced in the health forums. She also distributed medicines to the village community. Today, she feels very proud as she is able to initiate changes in the household behavior. She cites many instances, 'I have been able to motivate a lot of young pregnant mothers to have their deliveries at the local government hospital rather than at home. A lot of young couples in the hamlet have also adopted family planning.'

Initially, her road was full of hurdles....... "people were skeptical of me. They did not want to talk to me when I visited them. But slowly, I could convince them of the importance of quality health care that could be practiced very easily in their respective households. With time, they got convinced and now things have improved for good."

She says on a concluding note, "I would like to continue with my work forever. I will always remain grateful to Bandhan for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. Further, I would want to involve other women in my hamlet in this beautiful work."