71% of Indian rural households have access to toilets whereas only 42% in Jharkhand have access to one. Further, more than 40% of rural households in India have access to piped drinking water, while only 2% of rural masses in Bihar and Jharkhand have piped drinking water facilities.
The area of drinking water and sanitation in Jharkhand presents a grim scenario. Only 30% of the State's residents have partial facilities with drinking water. The presence of iron, fluoride and iron content in drinking water further compounds the problem.
Prabha has dissected the problems prevalent in the field of water sanitation and hygiene management through the launch of several WASH initiatives. Rural areas of Bihar and Jharkhand have always been at loggerheads with the very problems arising out of lack of sanitation coverage and poor hygiene practises among the community. The community for long has bore the brunt of ill-health, socio -economic backwardness owing to it. A well chartered plan for an effective community mobilization and sensitization has been laid out by Team Prabha, which has resulted in community engagement in improved WASH habits. Focus has been on the SBCC(social and behavioral change communication) approach of intervention.
Prabha's constant endeavor for safe, portable drinking water through electric water supply channels, creation of hand wash stations in schools & ICDS centres and creation of soak pits to check water pollution and stagnation at community level, is a march towards a new beginning. Inculcation of hand wash habits with soaps, use of clean toilets, wash kit distribution,installation of water filters in schools for iron removal are some of the path breaking initiatives we have undertaken in tandem with the School management committees in our project operational area.
Prabha has through its projects has sensitized 5000 households on effective menstrual hygiene management.
Through women SHGs and Adolescent girls group, Prabha has initiated counselling sessions in schools and with the community on menstrual hygiene management. Training of ASHAs, ANMs, ICDS workers, primary school teachers and Anganwadi workers on menstrual hygiene management, safe drinking water & sanitation has been consistently provided through our projects. Our work on the issue of health, nutrition and hygiene of adolescent girls has curbed the school dropout of girl Child in the project area. We intend to be the genuine voice of empowerment of these otherwise vulnerable girls /women, through our efforts at grassroot level.
Before Prabha's intervention, only 2% of households in Sonaraithari block, Deoghar district had access to safe drinking water, however through the implementation of project 'POSHANN' in the area, a whopping 60% of the block's residents now have safe drinking water facilities. More than two -third of residents now use clean containers that have a lid to cover, for water storage.