Feedback on Partnering with Community Organizations in the Midst of the Covid Pandemic

While the immediate impact of the covid induced crisis led to a severe resource crunch amongst millions of individuals and most donors as well as NGOs worked under a crisis management mode to alleviate the conditions of millions of needy and the poor, the focus upon managing the crisis has shifted significantly in the past three months on the specific management of disease through a litany of measures.

The foundation is currently working on a multi-pronged multi partner cooperation across all the wards of Bengaluru and it is in the DJ Halli region of East Bangalore that the organisation’s efforts are being directed towards providing adequate precautions to the residents of the region.

Most blocks in DJ Halli are ill-equipped and some of the denser slums often suffer from poor sanitation facilities, closely cramped housing, unreliable provision of running water and above all, are often congested in nature. With four adjacent wards converging upon a single vegetable market, the region in and around the PHC at DJ Halli is often teeming with people. Physical distancing is a fancied dream as people live in close quarters indoors and interact with each other in equally cramped outdoors.

Community Feedback on Managing Covid

In addition to all the above mentioned causes lies the underlying issue of a lack of recognition of the disease’s effects. The lack of recognition flies in the eyes of the conventional analyst for awareness about the disease is immense and all the residents who lived through the difficult times of the lockdown are well aware of the possible effects of the disease and also the measures required to prevent it.

However, the current predilection of not wearing masks also comes associated with the sense of fatality and fatigue, having undergone painful job losses and social stigma for the past few months. Residents come up with creative replies when enquired about the reasons for not wearing a mask.

Varying from “It is all god’s will” to “Nothing will happen to me” to “We have all caught the disease” to “God cannot kill all the poor” to “If it happens, it happens” to “We don’t have money to buy a mask” to a multitude of reasons, the almost universal lack of an interest to wear masks also hides an important detail about their social lives. The communities here have been the hardest hit by the economic impacts of the crisis and have no other option but to step out and work in the nearby regions. They cannot step back and worry about wearing a mask or maintaining distance but rather about getting food into their stomach.

The feedbacks surrounding myths and legends that have cropped up around the issue managing covid also border on the absurd. For example, the ola driver today mentioned eloquently that these masks are the government’s strategy to confuse the public and went on to add that Masks store carbon dioxide and this goes back to the body and makes us weak. The government ultimately wants us to be all weak so that our focus remains on treating ourselves rather than worrying about the country. More such theories abound in the markets of Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Delhi ranging from guzzling copious amounts of alcohol to holding your breath to “We are safe as long as we are in our locality” to stopping the consumption of fruits as fruits are known to carry the virus. The list is endless, and each country, state, city and locality have added a twist to these stories. The challenge for people working in the frontline is to sift through the rumours and convey basic truths about the pandemic and its causes.

Partner Approaches to the Communication Campaign

The task before the volunteers of Sama Foundation as it approaches each door and explains the benefits of preventive measures is immense and multi-layered. In a way, the communication strategy being developed in the form of a smiley campaign is targeting at these foundational issues being faced by locals. While the NGO works diligently in the slums, its volunteers are attempting to convey the importance of being aware of the disease. Simple measures such as a temperature check or use of oximeter is shared with the household to convey a message that the status of the family is currently healthy. The volunteers also share critical contact details of the local BBMP war zone which has been setup for the express purpose of providing right information to the needy communities.

The volunteers trained to work with Sama start with an advantage of being from the same locality as the respondents. Besides being trained in conducting simple health checks, filling up data sheets, responding to queries, sharing phone numbers for emergency calls and even preparing a street play, the volunteers have their hands full. In between, they also find time to stick posters and banners at various critical locations in the locality. The volunteers have come up with interesting preliminary feedback from their interactions with community members. Some of their key observations were that respondents are usually scared when they the gun-shaped thermal scanner and oximeter.

Secondly, survey fatigue has crept into most people after several months of data collection and locals are usually sceptical is sharing information. In some cases, respondents are reluctant to answer and in extremely rare circumstances, respondents have refused to answer or even tore the sheets. However, this behaviour is countered by the use of local volunteers and most respondents do share information freely when volunteers explain about the importance of such data collection.

Thirdly, as observed in places like Eidgah Mohalla, most respondents have responded well and offered detailed information about their health. The response is more detailed when the person being interview is suffering from Blood Pressure or Diabetes. These respondents have also requested for medicinal support as well. Volunteers have been trained to exhaustively interact with people who suffer from co-morbidities and this data is being captured in detail.

In the midst of communicating on the effects of the disease, the foundation is working closely to ensure that potential side-effects of the disease is kept within tolerable limits. Through its partner, Mercy mission, several fever clinics have been set up in these wards which are designed as a walk-in facility for community members to receive an update on their health status. These booths are non-intrusive in nature and responds to community members who wish to get themselves checked voluntarily. Though, there was an initial apprehension amongst several community members about the purpose of these booths, a sustained communication campaign has led to a steady walk of upto 80-100 everyday who get themselves checked on parameters such as temperature, Blood Pressure and oxygen level.

These efforts are still in a nascent stage and the coming weeks and possibly months will unfold a clear image of the impact of the foundation’s community level communication campaign. Posters, stickers, banners, wall paintings, murals, street theatre, songs, tableaus, announcement from mosques and more activities are planned as part of the campaign. Till then, the foundation and its partners such as Sama and Mercy Mission are determined to carry on spreading the message of managing the covid crisis.

Vijayshree G.R. and Kunal S.