COMMUNITY LED INITIATIVES FOR CHILD SURVIVAL
A Survey for the Community, by the Community
Girls from the Kishori Panchayat are ideally suited
to conduct surveys
Who in a village community is best suited to go into
people’s homes and ask questions? When the VCC
were asked by the CLICS program to nominate
members of their community to do a village health
survey, it seemed natural that they should decide that
girls from the Kishori Panchayat were the ideal
candidates. Apart from being well-educated and
confident, they have acquired several skills from
being part of this adolescent girl’s collective. So isn’t
it natural that these skills be put to use?
The survey was seen as an independent way of
collecting information about the village health
profile. Whereas the first part (which has just been
completed by the girls) focuses on the general socio-
demographic and sanitation characteristics of the
households, the other sections cover information on
maternal and child health services and their
utilization in the village. The idea is to use this data
to formulate the village health plan and monitor
health services being provided and used by the
community. Findings would add to those of the
anganwadi worker and ANM and serve as a ‘cross-
checking’ mechanism.
At the request of the VCC, four “vocal and dynamic”
candidates - Kavita, Manisha, Soni and Anita- were
selected to do the survey by the KP members
themselves. All four had participated in another
survey (leprosy survey for a NGO) and were familiar
with what the job entailed. They were trained by the
program and then decided upon their own
geographical areas of survey by zones. Schools were
closed for summer holidays so the girls could spend
three days at a stretch on collecting information. With
plenty of time on their hands, coupled with an
enthusiastic attitude, they set off determined to of
obtain answers to the questions in the homes they
visited. When the girls walked into homes of people
in the community, they were greeted by several
different reactions. Kavita says a common response
was: “There are already so many surveys - why are
you bothering with this?” Many asked the girls how
much they were earning for the job and when they
heard it was just a service being provided, they
laughed and said “You already know everything
about us - why are you bothering?”
But the girls were undeterred for they knew they
were on an important mission. The information they
were collecting would be used to fill the gaps that
existed and help frame a better health plan for the
village. When asked whether a boy her age would be
more suited to the job, Anita laughs and says, “We
girls are much better at such jobs than boys. They
aren’t serious enough to do this.” Manisha feels that
since the questions are women-centered and women
are the ones who take care of the home and family Contact us
health, they would respond better to questions being Community Led Initiatives for Child Survival

posed by other women rather than men. But by and (CLICS)

large all four report being welcomed into homes.

“We are young and not afraid to ask what we want.
Everyone lets us come in and is willing to help us by
answering,” declares Soni.
Information collected within the community by its
own members has a relevance that any other lacks.
Dr. Sushila Nayar School of Public Health
Incorporating Department of Community Medicine
Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences
Sewagram - 442 102 Wardha District,
Maharashtra (India)

Having a sort of kind of ownership of the survey and E-mail: bsgarg_ngp@bsnl.in

its analysis will help foster a vision that will be
Our Website
sustained over time. Eventually, the idea is to
http://clics.org.in
encourage the community to feel that it is their
responsibility to survey, collect information and take  
actions based on this.

MGIMS Aga Khan Foundation

Development Partner