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The Jagori Rural Charitable Trust Model: Menstrual Education of Women and Adolescent Girls in The Villages of Rural Dharamsala
Get PDFReproductive rights and education of women in rural communities is of lesser importance in India’s patriarchal society. Reproductive health is a conversation that is rarely discussed, and the health status of women is of little priority behind that of men and children’s health. Education about the health and hygiene of menstruation allows for women and adolescent girls to play a role in their own health maintenance, as well as normalizes the discussion of menstruation and reproductive health. Studying Jagori Rural Charitable Trust’s efforts to disseminate knowledge about reproductive health, with specific focus on menstruation, allows for an understanding of the impact of NGO efforts being made to educate women and adolescent girls, as well as displays a model of how and what village women of Dharamsala are being taught about menstruation. Data collection from six different villages in Dharamsala was utilized to show the dissemination of menstrual knowledge originating from Jagori’s workshops, women’s collectives, Anganwadi partnerships, and adolescent girl groups. Discussions, interviews, and observations of the women, their lasting menstrual knowledge, and the workshop training materials and objectives, allowed for a developed conclusion about Jagori’s model, the menstrual knowledge among village women in Dharamsala, and how Jagori’s outputs are affecting the outcomes and creating impact within the community. Results find that retention of knowledge from the reproductive health workshops was low in remembering the root of menstrual ailments, but higher in the knowledge retention of home remedies and hygiene. Further, Jagori’s reproductive workshops alone have a lesser impact on the community, with workshop attendance being a privilege reserved mostly for the leaders of the village collectives and adolescent girl’s collectives. However, in combination with the women’s collectives, inschool gender and sex sessions for adolescents, and the supervision of monthly Anganwadi meetings, Jagori has set up a support system of groups to disseminate knowledge in which they rely on their own efforts of outreach and awareness promotion, as well as the contributions of the leaders they are encouraging in the communities, to create change, and empower the women to promote the discussion of health as an important right for women and girls
Access to Information and Services Regarding Maternal Health and Healthcare Within Tribal Communities Around Udaipur, Rajasthan
Get PDFThe following study seeks to investigate access to antenatal and delivery-related services and information among women residing in rural, tribal communities around Udaipur, Rajasthan, and to analyze determinants that affect such access. More specifically, it seeks to evaluate one determinant in particular: that of association with and use of the services provided by the nonprofit organization Seva Mandir, which works with rural communities throughout southern Rajasthan in order to facilitate the improvement of health and development activities and outcomes. Methods used for the collection of the data upon which the study draws were qualitative: interviews were conducted with 27 women in communities with which Seva Mandir does and does not work, as well as with 5 frontline health workers who serve within those areas. Interview questions consisted of both direct, concrete inquiries regarding use or completion of particular aspects of antenatal or delivery-related care, as well as more open-ended questions concerning purpose of care and the types of information provided by frontline health workers. Thus, this study seeks to contribute to the existing body of literature regarding maternal health outcomes in Rajasthan by analyzing accessibility of both information and awareness of best practices in maternal health and of high-quality services during the antenatal and intranatal periods. Findings indicate that such awareness remains limited, even among women who experience high-quality care before and during delivery. Thus, the results of the study suggest that greater efforts must be made to transform the role of women from service beneficiaries to health agents
Environmental Education in Post-green Revolution Punjab
Get PDFIn India, environmental education (EE) became compulsory for Classes I-XII nationwide in 1991, with curricula designed by central and state governments. Meanwhile, in the interest of food security, the government-promulgated Green Revolution of the 1960s brought about commercial agriculture practices have led to environmental degradation, with negative impacts on farmers’ livelihoods. This paper presents a case study in a rural region in the state of Punjab, the heartland of the Green Revolution. Through interviews with students, teachers and community members as well as a review of school curricula, it seeks to understand how EE in schools is impacting the perceptions and aspirations of the community’s younger generation with respect to the community’s agricultural and environmental linkages, problems and future. It is found that although EE in Punjab touches upon locally relevant concerns, in the context of ingrained societal attitudes and the wider body of school curricula, it does not compel any meaningful initiative or change on the part of the students. While education is commonly seen as an important medium for human, societal and economic development, EE is part of an education system, taking part in a feedback loop with broader societal values which may not be aligned with sustainable development
Jabal al-weibdeh: a counter-memory of amman a case study in the resistance of memory
Get PDFThe neighborhood of Jabal al-Weibdeh is one of Amman’s most historic neighborhoods, founded in the 1930s atop one of Amman’s seven original hills. Using previous research on the construction of Jordanian national identity and the marginalization of Ammani identity, this paper aims to serve as a case study of the relationship between Amman and hegemonic discourses of Jordanian identity in Weibdeh. Through interviews with Jordanians who are connected to Weibdeh, this study examines the presence of collective memory and Ammani identity in Weibdeh. This paper argues that Weibdeh’s collective memory acts as an explicit counter-memory to Hashemite constructions of national identity
The Dynamics of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) in Traditional Pakistan.
Get PDFThis research seeks to explore the interpretation and application of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) in the context of Educational Empowerment by analyzing insights gathered from multiple stakeholder groups in four cities of Pakistan, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar. Analysis of the findings reveals nuances of PM&E, including “Equality and Equity, Respect and Tolerance” (pg. 58-61) that limit the potential of this transdisciplinary empowerment process. Empowerment and educational programs often employ the continuous processes of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to gain an understanding of the implementation, efficiency, impact, and overall performance of the program. M&E also provides valuable information about rooms for improvement within elements of the program. Unlike traditional M&E, PM&E engages members from multiple stakeholder groups to define, design and strategize the process. In PM&E, these stakeholder groups further facilitate the process through data collection and analysis. However, the transdisciplinary process of monitoring and evaluation regardless of its conventional or participatory nature, is prone to be susceptible to nuances that often jeopardize the process, analysis, and information it renders. Power dynamics and positionality, interpersonal and inter-group politics, conflicts of interest and interpretation, create an environment where overtly inclusive processes have elements of exclusivity
Challenges and Successes of Adolescent Reproductive Healthcare and Education in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil
Get PDFIn this project, I discuss the impact of social, medical, and political factors on the reproductive healthcare of adolescents in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil. I collected qualitative data through formal interviews with public health professionals in the Sistema Única de Saúde (SUS), the Brazilian public health system, and through observations of clinic and home visits. Due to ethical concerns, I did not conduct formal interviews with the patients, were not of legal age. I focused on prevention of pregnancy and STI transmission of adolescents as metrics with which to measure sexual health. I gathered information with the intention to understand SUS’ role in primary prevention (education, condom usage, safer sex practices) and secondary prevention (contraceptive usage, prenatal appointments)
I also discuss the role of the public health system in schools, which had been weakened in the preceding year, and the external political factors that affect adolescent reproductive health.
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Neste projeto, discuto o impacto de fatores sociais, médicos e políticos na saúde reprodutiva de adolescentes em Cachoeira, Bahia, Brasil. Recolhei dados qualitativos através de entrevistas formais com profissionais de saúde pública do Sistema Única de Saúde (SUS) e através de observações de visitas domiciliares e clínicas. Devido a preocupações éticas, não realizei entrevistas formais com os pacientes, quem eram menores de 18 anos. Concentrei-me na prevenção da gravidez e na transmissão de DSTs de adolescentes como métricas com as quais medir a saúde sexual. Recolhei informações com a intenção de entender o papel do SUS na prevenção primária (educação, uso de preservativos, práticas sexuais mais seguras) e prevenção secundária (uso de anticoncepcionais, consultas pré-natais)
Também discuto o papel do sistema de saúde pública nas escolas, que foi enfraquecido no ano anterior, e os fatores políticos externos que afetam a saúde reprodutiva dos adolescents
Avian species and family composition along elevational and disturbance gradients in Santa Fe National Park, Veraguas Province, Panamá
Get PDFElevational gradients are some of the most well-known and researched biological trends. However, how species diversity varies with elevation differs by taxa and location. One hypothesis suggests that bird diversity decreases with increasing elevation in the tropics. In addition, bird diversity may decrease along the forest edge and in areas of increasing disturbance. Therefore, in this study I surveyed avian diversity along an elevational gradient in Santa Fe National Park, Veraguas, Panamá using point-count observations. Thirty-six point-count locations in 3 elevation zones were surveyed between 19 Apr and 29 Apr 2017. Shannon diversity, richness, and evenness were calculated for both species and family, and were compared to elevation and disturbance level (a proxy for the forest edge). Although species diversity did not vary significantly with elevation or disturbance level, family diversity was significantly higher in high elevation regions and areas with a low level of disturbance. Measuring avian diversity along a larger elevational gradient stratified by disturbance level would further investigate the factors influencing bird diversity in Santa Fe National Park
The Business of Brandy: The Changing Roles of Women in Apple Brandy Production in Lower Mustang, Nepal
Get PDFLower Mustang, Nepal is famous across the country for its well-known trekking circuit and an agricultural climate especially suitable to apple cultivation. Home to the indigenous Thakali ethnic group, the region was made accessible by motor vehicle via the Jomsom-Beni road just ten years ago. While before the road transportation of fresh apples was nearly impossible, necessitating the production of dried apples and apple brandy, now farmers make a lucrative profit off of high demand throughout the country. Additionally, the production of apple brandy has boomed, and the region has four to six distilleries in production at any one time. The recent taxing of these distilleries has caused the government to initiate licensing rules, requiring those who wish to sell apple brandy to register with a license. Though Thakali women are well-known for their roles in local alcohol production and are understood to be the initiators of apple brandy production in the region, these licensing rules effectively prohibit them from tapping into a traditional income source. The emergence and enforcement of licensing rules is an externality of regional development that disproportionately affects women. While commercialization and infrastructure developments in the region are largely beneficial, the consequences must be examined for all parties involved
Development of a Wild Infant Woolly Monkey Social interactions, time allocation and behavior of a wild Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii infant and her mother
Get PDFThe lowland woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii), like all species of woolly monkey, is extremely threatened due to anthropologic activities such as deforestation, petroleum drilling and commercial hunting across their habitat. Due to their low reproductive rate and low reproductive success in captivity, the captive population is decreasing every year as habitat loss increases. In late February of 2017 an infant female was born on the island of Sumak Allpa, a monkey rehabilitation organization and reserve in the western Ecuadorian Amazon. The woolly monkeys are completely independent on the reserve; and as such her birth marks the first time a wild infant has been born in a rehabilitation center. In a 21-day study the time allocation of both the mother and infant were evaluated, as well as their social interactions with the individuals from two troops on the island, specifically the dominant male. Over the past year the two troops, one adult with one male and one juvenile with two, have been overlapping, and in recent months have fluctuated between two troops and a single troop. The father of the infant is assumed to be a sub-adult male as copulation has only been observed with him and adult females. This study found that at the age of two to three months the infant was eating solid food, continued to nurse, moved independent of the mother and used her prehensile tail regularly. The infant allocated the most time to resting and locomoting, and the mother to resting, moving and eating. The dominant male showed attraction to the infant and the mother, and appeared to have accepted the infant although he is likely not the father. This indicates that rehabilitation centers in wild environments may be an effective mode of repopulation and conservation for Lagothrix.
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Los chorongos (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii), como todas las especies de Lagothrix, están extremadamente amenazados debido a actividades antropológicas como la deforestación, el desarrollo de petróleo y la caza comercial en su hábitat nativo. Debido a su tasa reproductiva baja y éxito bajo de reproducción en cautividad, la población cautiva está disminuyendo cada año mientras la pérdida de hábitat está aumentando. Al final de febrero de 2017 una hembra infantil nació en la isla de Sumak Allpa, una organización y reserva para la rehabilitación de los monos en el Amazonía occidental ecuatoriano. Los chorongos son completamente independientes en la reserva; y por eso su nacimiento marca la primera vez que una cría salvaje ha nacido en un centro de rehabilitación. En un estudio de 21 días se evaluó la asignación de tiempo de la madre y la cría, y sus interacciones sociales con los individuos de dos tropas de la isla también, específicamente el macho dominante. Durante el año pasado, las dos tropas, una con un macho adulto y otra con dos machos jóvenes, se han unido, y en los últimos meses han fluctuado entre dos tropas y una sola tropa. Se supone que el padre de la cría es el macho sub-adulto, porque la cópula sólo se ha observado con él y las hembras adultas. Este estudio encontró que a la edad de dos a tres meses el bebé estaba comiendo alimentos sólidos, seguía amamantando, se movía independientemente de la madre y usaba su cola prensil regularmente. El bebé usaba la mayoría de su tiempo para descansar y moverse, y la madre lo usaba para descansar, moverse y comer. El macho dominante mostraba atracción a la cría y la madre, y parecía haber aceptado a la cría aunque probablemente no es el padre. Esto indica que los centros de rehabilitación en ambientes silvestres pueden ser un modo eficaz de repoblación y conservación para Lagothrix
Munnar Plantation Strike, 2015: a Case Study of Keralan Female Tea Workers’ Fight for Justice
Get PDFIn the southern state of Kerala, tea leaf pickers are nearly all women. They work 14 hour days, six days a week, rain or shine. What’s more, they earn the lowest minimum daily wage of any sector in the state, bringing home a meager average of Rs. 231 a day. With women constituting more than half of the workforce on tea plantations across India it is becoming increasingly crucial to understand the challenged, yet integral role they play. Through a case study of the Munnar Plantation Strike of 2015 - a strike organized by the Pempilai Orumai women, against the Kannan Devan Hills Tea Plantation - this paper seeks to reveal the ways in which female tea workers in South India have attempted to dismantle deep seeded inequality. What factors led to this coalescence? What reforms did the female laborers demand? And, what, if any, sustainable changes ensued? In exploring the arc of the 2015 strike, this study also seeks to broadly explore the role of tea and the female labor movement in the development of rural South India. Data was collected through a combination of one-on-one formal and informal interviews, focus groups and analysis of written materials produced by the Pempilai Orumai. The findings reveal the role of inadequate and corrupt trade unions in triggering the strike, the rudimentary list of demands set forward by the strike organizers, and a host of unanticipated consequences that followed. Ultimately, however, the findings conclude that the successes of the strike are rendered negligible in the grand scheme of the Kannan Devan empire