ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY TEAM I

 

Team I with relief materials of worth Rs 15 lacs reached Saharsa on 2nd September 2008 and on that very day a base camp was set up at Saharsa. The team was lead by Dr. Manoj Kumar Jha, Director Field work and included Pushpam Jha, Digvijoy Phukan, Kaivalya Desai, Rajiv Jena, Santonu Hazarika and Udai Bhasker as student volunteers and Brij Raj Singh as part of the non-teaching staff. The team undertook rapid assessment of almost all the flood affected areas of Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura for two days. It also analysed the relief work going on in Saharsa which has emerged as an ‘island of hope’ for millions rendered homeless. Finally an area known as Bhutahi Baandh was identified for the intervention.

 

Team I intervened at three levels:

  1. Providing relief materials to the women (esp. pregnant women, children and elderly citizens at the point of rescue at Bhutahi Baandh. They were given ORS, biscuits, torches and other relief materials.
  2. Running a mobile medical unit (MMU) at Majhouva, Madhepura. The medical unit was catering to all water-borne diseases, which include viral infections, stomach ailments and sores arising out of walking in the water.
  3. Undertaking a participatory need assessment at Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura. The emphasis was given to the needs of women, esp. pregnant and women with infants, old persons, physically challenged and the weaker sections.
  4. The team also carried out awareness campaigns in the relief camps in Saharsa to prevent epidemics in the town already hosting twice its own population. The team members also helped local administrative bodies to stream line the relief distribution process and made practical suggestions to ensure that it reaches to all the sections of the society.Darkness and Hunger are the biggest threats to the victims of the one of the biggest man-made disasters this nation has ever seen. The Department of Social Work is the only one which could understand and act by providing infant food to the lactating mothers who are incapable of breast-feeding their child and torches to fight the enemies of the night like poisonous water snakes. These efforts have been applauded by all the agencies including the state and media operating in the area.