Survey!
Written by Gautam Bagga, our survey coordinator
Hi, everybody, this is Gautam writing. I’ve been put in charge of the survey, and with regards to that, I’ve been cobbling one together over the last week or so. There are two purposes for this survey: the more obvious reason of data collection and incorporating that into future work we do in MGR Nagar, but additionally, we are looking to forge lasting bonds between ourselves and the inhabitants. Hence, I’ve tried to keep the survey as short as possible and have cut a lot of questions that were too difficult (and we’ve had to get rid of maternal health almost entirely…that’s something that we’ll do in the future). It should take around 15 minutes to do. We’re hoping to reach MGR Nagar at around 1700, and leave SRMC at around 1600. I’m going to be holding onto the Sangam India phone, so if there are any problems whilst taking the survey, then please give me a call.
We’re still not entirely sure on the numbers of volunteers that will be available, but if you have a few hours to spare, then please, PLEASE come down. I know that this isn’t particularly exciting work and there isn’t the direct feel-good factor that you get when helping at the camps but this work is just as important as it gives us a direction to work in over the coming months and years.
I’m going to do a quick breakdown of the survey, and its sections. Here it is:
We’re going to use census data to make things less confusing for you surveyor-folks. Each survey will have the occupants and a few details of theirs on the front page, to make it easier for me to decode the data.
Household – this is a section that you can fill by combination of simply observing the house (to see the quality of the walls, floor and roof) as well as asking a few simple questions. They’re fairly simple so all you need to do is circle the appropriate answer. It deals with their habitat and habits around it, including the bathroom status and water treatment/storage.
Environment – This deals with water sources for different activities and the source of lighting. It gives us an idea of how the average inhabitants of MGR Nagar are living, what they know about water treatment, and more importantly, what they don’t.
Hygiene – Basic hygiene questions about their washing habits. This is one of the most important segments, since rectifying any unsanitary habits is one of the ways that we can see a reduction in infection rates.
Health – A quick screening survey, just to find out what the prevalence of a few common conditions is like. Additionally, there are a couple of questions on access (where they’ve been and where they would go…both of these are important as we can identify which centres have earned the trust of the slum inhabitants). Rounding out this section are 2 questions: one is on smoking, and the other is on alcohol. In truth, we’re not expecting much statistical data from this, but we think that if anyone is likely to answer ‘yes’ to the alcohol question in particular, then it signifies the trust that we’re building between the people and ourselves. Still, it’s worth including.
Nutrition – Just to find out, roughly, what kind of society we’re looking at. Do they get enough fruits and vegetables? Are they eating enough in terms of calories? Does anyone take any supplements? An estimated 95% of the women will have anaemia. With that in mind…iron tablets, maybe?
Education – Finally, just a few quick questions on the adults’ level of education and whether they’d like to expand on that. Also, a quick note about the kids’ education level. This section is there since we’re trying to judge whether vocational programmes need to be put in place.
That’s about it. I’ll be filling in the front of the forms between 9pm tonight and tomorrow, so I hope you guys understood some of what was said above. I hope to see you tomorrow! Toodle pip!
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Summer vacation has begun and most of Sangam India's members from Ramachandra are now scattered around the world, spending holidays at home with their families. We would like to do our best to continue our weekly visits to Ramavaram to spend time with the children, so we have asked Safwan, one of our members who is a resident of Chennai, to take charge for the next one month. Since we do not have a lot of manpower right now, we have decided to put the lessons on hold and have games, storytime, and other such activities that are easy to carry out and enjoyable for the children. The first such visit will take place tomorrow, Saturday, May 2.
Tomorrow, April 16, 2009, is Day 5 of our 
