In Janta Colony, a village near the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the marginalised community is waking up every day with a new hope. Developing Indigenous Resources (DIR), a social enterprise started by Dr W. Frederick Shaw, has created a unique model to overcome the challenging issues of IMR (Infant Mortality Rate), income generation particularly in women and primary education in and around the colony. Dr W. Frederick Shaw a veteran in International Development, after working across continents, established DIR in 2005. In the words of Mrs Harsharan Kaur (COO – DIR), “what you see at the moment is work in progress, we intend to convert the area into a 5 star basti which becomes a self sustaining ecosystem over a period of time.”
DIR works on a very simple model. It trains local residents to become HPs (Health Promoters) thus ingeniously converting the localities into a network of experts. HPs undergo capacity building programs in the aspect of medical health and nutrition at regular intervals, so that they can facilitate help during any kind of medical emergency. They even have community meetings on pressing issues once a week. DIR maintains regular database of the interventions though their HPs. The HPs collect and conduct regular baseline surveys around health indicators such as childhood malnutrition, infant mortality rates, immunization rates and birthing practices. A number of small workshops are organized by DIR during which the HPs trained by it, educate the residents of the colony about root causes of issues related to general health, and also teach them to identify symptoms of such diseases.
The happy faces of the employees of DIR, is the real source of inspiration in this operation. The HPs are aware of and proud of the services they are rendering. They are paid respectfully and there is a complete transparency in their functioning. Being natives of the area for generations, the reach and success rate of the HPs have become highly pronounced and tangible.
The evolution and success of such NGOs is definitely Good News for the entire social sector which is fast becoming extremely professional and accountable.
