Cleanliness has become a tradition and a way of life for the villager.
Uttarakhand Sustainable Development Festival, a two-day event with numerous interesting presentations, panel discussions and interactive dialogue took place between 23rd and24th February 2018 in Champawat district of Uttarakhand. The landmark event brought together many non-governmental organizations and environmentalists from different countries to focus on working towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Uttarakhand. It also provided a valuable opportunity and paved the way for further cooperation among government and non-government organizations in Champawat and the whole of Uttarakhand.
A place rich in heritage and culture, Champawat is situated in a valley of dense forests, 76 kms from Tanakpur in Uttarakhand. A breathtaking and serene view of flora, fauna and beautifully carved and constructed ancient temples makes Champawat an aesthetically pleasing landscape. The people of Champawat have kept their culture alive as they still follow the rituals which they used to perform in the 10th century. The responsibility to keep the village clean lies in the hands of every person residing there. Locals cleaning roads, picking up leaves and throwing garbage in the cartoon boxes is a common sight. Separate dustbins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable garbage adorn every nook and corner of the village, which indicates the consciousness of cleanliness among villagers. Cleanliness has become a tradition and a way of life for them. A cartoon box is kept in front of each shop in the market for dropping waste. The garbage trucks specially designed to collect all household waste arrives twice a day and then moved it to landfills or other places where waste materials are managed and treated.
Teach For Green aims to promote effective learning in terms of sanitation and hygiene education which reduces incidences of disease and worm infections, environmental cleanliness and to implement children’s rights: Children have the right to be healthy and happy. Being clean, healthy and having clean water and proper sanitation facilities contribute to a happy childhood.
The idea is to promote behavioral change by providing hygiene education in school and linking it to the home and community. Children act as catalysts to reach out to different groups of community.
Teach For Green is looking forward to developing an ecosystem within schools so that the facilities once implemented are maintained by the school without any external support. Investing in school sanitation and hygiene education has many benefits.
When working with local communities, it is of course easier to initiate with those who are already engaged and then strengthen their practices. This means that in different communities, we might have different groups that may be involved initially in the program.
Teach For Green aims to develop environmental entrepreneurs by providing technical skills in the field of green energy and other sustainable practices, encouraging innovative ideas and assisting interested youth in establishing micro-enterprises.
Featured photo: Our team who participated in the Uttarakhand Sustainable Development Festival
