VCA FILED SCHOOL TRAINING 2012 SRI LANKA

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Consolidation of Field Sessions Exercise

Group 0 1

Nonedited version –

solely developed by participants

Dhampura

VCA Report

VCA FILED SCHOOL TRAINING 2012

SRI LANKA

(2)

Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

1. Introduction

1.1 Introduction to Dahampura Village

Dahampura is a sm all Grama Niladhari Division in Western Province of Sri Lanka and locat ed in Colombo, the capit al cit y. This belongs to Kolonnawa Divisional Secret ariat w ith area of 0.75 sq km .

The total population of Dahampura is 5500 (2011 estimate); among them are 1830 children and total of 1850 fam ilies. The m ain ethnic group is t he Sinhalese, with a populat ion of 3372 people. The most notable of the other et hnic groups are; t he Tam il and the M uslim s. Official language is Sinhala Predom inant ly (over 56%) people are Buddhist plus Islam , Catholic and Hindu Comm unit ies.

In Dahampura, life expectancy at birth is 70 years (source DS, Kolonnaw a). About 90% of the people live in slum s. M ajorit y of the people are laborers (40%). About 40% people are illit erat e. 90% of people are estimated to be employed in different sectors; own business, governm ent and private sect or et c.

The Community is prone to various disast ers such as floods (due to water logging), disease epidem ics (Skin diseases, dengue, viral fever et c.). In addition of these, social problem s such as drug addict ions exist in t he community. Dahampura is a low land area surrounded w ith m arshy land like a valley.

Because of the demographical nature of the area, Dahampura is highly prone to floods (w at er logging conditions). The dist ance from t he local river is about 500 m . The Kelani River affects the com munity and in the last 10 decades this river affect ed 1000 fam ilies and their houses. Also rainy water affected 450 fam ilies in t he community. Even w it h a small rainfall for about 1 -2 hours, whole community w ill get affect ed w ith flood wat er and wat er will remain for about 2 – 3 hours. Wat er level rise up to 3 – 4 feet.

Flood rat ing for Daham pura is considered as “ High” compared to t he other GN in t he Kolonnawa Divisional Secret ary area (source ….).

There is a huge garbage dumping yard near t he comm unit y covering more than 5 acres. The garbage not only from Kolonnawa Urban Council, but also from Colombo M unicipal and Jayawardhapaura M C also unloaded here from 2007. This is one of the major threats for t he day to day life of the people in Dahampura village.

The number of people get affect ed w it h communicable diseases has been increasing during last 5 years.

It is report ed that significant number of males are addict ed to alcoholism and drugs. Especially the youth (15 – 17 years) are addicted t o drugs stimulant s (prescribed drugs). This is t he recent t rend among the youth. This is m ainly due to the educat ion status of the youths.

The socio econom ic condit ion of the people in Dahampura is poor (source DS Kolonnawa) M ost of them have lim ited livelihood opt ions and also wit h low capacity & know ledge to prepared for and respond to disast ers. Educat ion level of t he comm unity m embers are low compared t o the educat ion st andards of Sri Lanka. School dropout rates are very high in Dahampura. M ost of the children leave school in grade 8 -9. Even though there are m any reasons behind this, t he unstable econom ical situat ion of the parents, t he negligence, lack of knowledge on importance of educat ion are som e of the key fact ors increasing t he drop out rates.

The community has wooden houses and roof w it h iron roofing sheet s. The houses are closely sit uated and none of them have t it le deeds to their lands. Init ially, there were only 10 fam ilies inhabiting the area in 1974. At that t ime this was a paddy land. People start ed filling paddy fields from 1980s and built t heir houses.

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

The com munity is about 30 m inutes drive from capital of Colombo and road is in good condition to access the com munity. Com munity has access to t elephone signals, elect ricit y and pipe born water. Com munity people feel safer. They are not worried about security problem except floods.

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

1. 2. SLRCS programming

SLRCS has planned to implement Integrat ed Programm e for Community Resilience (IPCR) in 25 communities in 5 dist ricts nam ely Colombo, M atara, Badulla, M annar and Kegalle. Within a dist rict , 5 most vulnerable com munit ies will be select ed for project im plem entation. The program m e implem entat ion w ill be done by the respective dist rict branch in each dist rict .

Colombo dist rict branch has selected Dahampura village as one of the 5 villages t o implem ent IPCR programm e during next t wo years. The funding is secured only for one year to complete t he 1st stage. The selection of the village is done in consult at ion with the relevant governm ent authorit ies.

Colombo branch has experiences in im plem ent ing sim ilar project during last 8 years.

2. Assessment

The follow ing are the t ools used for assessment in the Dahampura community.

1. M apping (Risks/ Vulnerabilities/ Capacities)

The communit y members t oget her w it h t he Grama Niladari ident ified t heir risks and recourses t o draw

t he village map.

The Risks ident ified:

o

Garbage Dump

o

Damaged culvert s

o

Blocked Canal

o

Damaged drainage syst em

o

Water logging area

o

The sew erage system connects to t he canal

The Capacit ies identified:

o

Communit y Cent re

o

Temple

o

Evacuation area – pump house

o

Schools

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

2. Seasonal Calendar

Jan Feb M ar Apr M ay Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Flooding/ Rainy

Season

x

Due t o the

rain of ot her areas

x

Dry Season /

W at er shortage

x

Diseases

-Vir al fever

x

-Dengue f ever

x

-Skin Disease

x

Festival Season Thaipong al

Sinhala/ Hi

ndu new

yr f est ival _Vesak Poson Deep

avali

Chr ist m as

School Vacation

x

High Incom e

x

Low Incom e

x

-

During the mont hs of January and April,

t here is high income, because t he

availability of jobs is high and also t he

motivation to earn more is high due t o

t he upcoming festival seasons.

-

Low income during t he month of

November was not ed due t o the high

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

-

Flooding periods w ere noted to be frequent t hroughout t he year. In addit ion to that due t o the rain in other

areas, t he Dahampura area get s affected.

Seasonal Calendar m aking by the com munity

3. Historical Profile

-

1974

- 10 houses / rest of the GND was a paddy field

-

1980

-

People st arted filling paddy fields and building houses

-

1982

-

A housing scheme was launched for 72 houses. A loan of 25 ,000 rupees given

-

1986

–

Houses w ere completed w ith t he community hall. The village development societ y was

est ablished

-

1989

–

Huge flood – 300 families w ere destroyed w it h the propert ies. They moved to safer places in

Kolonnawa area. Also Kolonnawa Urban council start ed to dump their garbage t o the area

-

1992

-

Pre school st arted in the communit y hall. People prot ested against the dumping yard because

t he children st art ed gett ing sick. The garbage dumping was st opped t emporarily because of t he

prot est .

-

2000

–

Again the Urban Council st art ed dumping

-

2004

–

Since t hen couldn’t use t he w ell w ater due to contaminat ion w ith garbage

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

-

2010

– 2 children died by dengue fever. About 100 families w ere affect ed. About 20 w ere very serious

4. Pairw ise Ranking

H G F E D C B A SCORE RANK

A Flood A A A A A A A x 7 1

B Sanitat ion (Toilet) B B F B B B x x 5 3

C Diseases C C F C C x x x 4 4

D 23 Wat ta – Narrow Road H G F E x x x x 0 8

E Alcoholism / Drugs Abuse E E F x x x x x 3 5

F Garbage Dumping F F x x x x x x 6 2

G No com munit y hall G x x x x x x x 2 6

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H Play ground H x x x x x x x 1 7

5. Focus Group Discussion

The focus group was a Women Group

Common Problems

1. Diseases – Dengue, Skin diseases, viral fever, frequent headaches, germ infect ions

2. Sanit at ion issues –

a.

Insufficient t oilet s

b.

Use of common t oilets

c.

Improper sew erage systems – Sew erage syst ems are opened to canal

d.

Un-cleanliness of the t oilet s

e.

Use of unsafe water

f.

Bad smell emanating from the garbage heap

3. Drug addiction

a.

Significant % of male populat ion addict ed t o alcoholism/ drugs

b.

Youth are addict ed t o prescribed drugs

4. High rate of school drop outs

a.

M ost of t he children leave school at t he age of 14 – 15

5. Insufficient services

a.

Not enough doct ors

b.

No cleaning services from t he UC

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

6. Insufficient infrastructure facilit ies

a.

Narrow roads – difficulty to reach houses, difficultly in t ransferring a patient t o a hospit als

b.

No community centre w hich is usable

Ot her findings

1. M ost of t he males are involved in labour work. Some of t hem w ork in government, privat e organization.

2. M any of the females are not employed. Some of them w ork in garment fact ories, as a house maids in nearby

villages

3. Garbage is a huge problem for them. They believe that t he rat e of NCD diseases increase, due t o the

blockage of canals cause of flooding, headaches due to bad smelling, environment is very unclean. Also

many said t hat the relations do not like to visit t heir houses due t o bad smell.

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

6. Institutional Netw ork Analysis

The communit y members ident ified fift een organizat ions and inst it ut ions.

Institutions & Organizations Rank

Grama Niladari and his office

02

Divisional Secret ariat

06

M id Wife and office

05

Urban council

03

Rural Development Society

12

Sport s club and preschool (Dhahampura watt a)

14

Prime Gramin M icro Finance (Dhahampura wat ta)

₁₅

Government Dispensary

₀₄

“ Diriya Wanit ha” w omen’s societ y

₁₁

“ Diriya M aga” communit y de velopment foundat ion

₁₀

Samurdi Bank

₁₃

Poloice station and w ellampit aya civil securit y committ ee

₀₇

Water board

₀₈

Elect ricit y board

₀₉

Wimalaramaya Temple

01

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

7. Direct Observation

Aft er t he community mapping exercise, direct observat ion was made to cross check t he findings made on the

map and also t o understand the communit y cont ext such as how big and nearby t he dump was. It w as observed

t hat many people w ere scavenging from t he dump and found t hat t his was used as a source of income.

8. Key Informant Interviews

We int erview ed Grama Niladhari of t he village.

Finding from the Key Informant Discussion:

Drama Niladhari mentioned t he most pressing needs of t he sub segments of t he communit y

1. 101 Wat ta –

a.

Development of health infrastructure facilit ies such as t oilets

b.

Leadership trainings, youth camps, recreational facilit ies

c.

Construction of community centre

2. 23 Wat ta

a.

Construction of a anicut t o regulate t he flood w at er

b.

Widen the road

3. 97 Wat ta/ Dahampura

a.

Construction of a w all against t he canal

Ot her points

• Import ance of developing t he att itudes of t he peoples

• Import ance of engaging t he school leavers

• Developing t he skills and know ledge on different aspect s w hich helps t o t heir day t o day life (financial

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

• The provision of relief is not w ort hwhile

3. Situation analysis and Rationality:

Before developing the problem tree w e conducted an assessm ent of the com m unity by using various VCA assessm ent t ools, w hich are as follows-

•

Direct Observat ion

•

Com munity mapping (including social issues, hazards, risks, vulnerabilit y & capacit y)

•

Seasonal Calendar

•

Focused Group Discussion (FGD)

•

Inst it ut ional & Organizat ional Analysis (by using Venn Diagram )

•

Historical Profile, and

•

Ranking

Above VCA tools has been applied by two consecut ive days w ithin the community, w here lot of comm unit y people from different level joined w ith us and worked into several groups.

After get ting inform at ion from above VCA t ools w e compiled all inform at ion and reviewed accordingly, t hen w e finalized following findings as on priority basis-

Findings:

•

Land ownership issues

•

High risk areas/ community/ seasonal diseases

•

Seasonal flood & wat er logging due t o lack of maint enance of cannel & culvert s/ outlet s

•

No proper garbage disposal syst em

•

M ost of the cannel and drainages are blocked due to communal used is a damping rubbish areas.

•

High mosquito breeding places as a result it becam e m alaria and vect or-born disease.

•

No evacuat ion area

•

No playground and healt h centers

•

People need to w alk at least 600 meters away for nearby their health services and t o go to Colombo Hospitals t hey also need t o spent Rs.12 per person as t ravel cost.

•

Som e of young peoples are drug addict ed

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

•

Scrap scavenge is a good source of incom e som e very lit tle number of fam ilies

•

Nursery center in a poor condit ions

•

Som e fam ilies are using one comm unal t oilet

•

There is a public well, which w as being used by them , but now it is using t o wash vehicles only.

•

Pipe Wat er and elect ricit y available w it hin the com munity

•

Good paved road into t he comm unity

•

High power voltage w ent through the community

•

Priest are t he most respect ive and influent ial leader of the comm unity

Aft er that w e tried to fit and short out all t hese findings int o the following Program developm ent tools- A. Problem Tree

B. Objective Tree

3.1 Problem analysis:

To find out main problem s of the Dahampura com munity, we t he group members sat t ogether and had reviewed and short ed out t he issues according to the following st eps-

1.

Problem statem ent: “ Sickness & Hygiene”

2.

Direct causes: w e ident ified three direct causes that w e m ent ioned into the chart of Problem t ree under green boxes

3.

Indirect causes: Here w e t ried t o find linkages that are laying in bet ween direct causes and root causes, w hich is called as “ Indirect causes” (20 indirect causes has been m ent ioned int o the yellow boxes)

4.

Root causes: These are the basic fact ors w hich are contributing m ore to create indirect and direct causes. We found 20 root cause under t hree groups of indirect causes, w hich m ent ioned into the pink color boxes)

3.2 Need Analysis:

To develop Object ive Tree, we reviewed the Problem Tree and consider all problem s according to steps then we t ried to turn problem s into the Objective t ree.” Healthy & Safer Comm unity” is t he Goal st atement of this objective t ree. We found three Objectives as a whole that m ent ioned into the red box of t he figure. These three Object ives have been linked with another nine “ Indirect Object ives” which are fit t ed into the yellow boxes. When we further rethink on these nine indirect object ives w e could able t o find out thirty act ivit ies all t ogether for this Objective tree.

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

center to meet

community

pass stool &

urines

of health care

services

Sickness & Poor

Hygiene

1. Illegal

alcoholism & drug

abuse

2. Poor sanitation

3. Disease &

Stress

Prob

lem

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

3.1 To enhance social

cohesion among the

community members

To conduct stakeholders’

meeting

To train people on self-care

technique & physiological FA

To organize quarterly community

gathering

To support community festival

To provide recreational materials

To counseling with community

Objective

Healthy & Safer community

1. To reduce

substance abuse

2. To decrease mortality &

morbidity due to communicable

disease

To develop IEC material for

specific topics wise

To arrange recreational

activities

To conduct 20 awareness

campaign about substance

abuse

To arrange vocational

training for youth

To arrange IGP for youth &

female

To established of clubs

(Youth, Children & Women)

To renovate four culverts

To conduct 20 awareness

campaign/ session

To construct new common

Toilet & renovate existing

To conduct medical camps

(Quarterly)

To conduct regular

community meeting with

volunteers/ stakeholder

quarterly

To conduct environmental

cleaning campaign

To develop IEC materials on

Dengue, Hygiene & Skin

disease

To conduct 20 awareness

campaign about substance

abuse

To formation of relevant

community committee

To response team on FA,

Health, Relief, Evacuation,

Hygiene

To advocacy with Govt. to

reduce effects of garbage

To take initiatives to widen

narrow roads of the

community

Increase public

enforcement

Encourage religious

activities

Drug addicts rehabilitation

activities

Formation of security

committees

Fumigation in the mosquito

breeding places

Advocate & facilitated for

proper garbage dumping

1.1 To increase the knowledge of

effects of substance abuse

1.2 To improve law enforcement

2.1 To reduce number of

people affected by Dengue

2.3 To reduce number the

rate of skin disease in the

community

2.2 To increase the health

facilities & community

infrastructure

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Nonedited version – solely developed by participants

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

4. Goal and Objectives

Goal

:

Healthy & Safer community

Objectives

1. To reduce substance abuse

2. To decrease mortality & morbidity due to communicable disease

3. To enhance physiological wellbeing

5. Program Strategies

1. Communit y mobilizat ion - organizing communit ies by format ion of commit tees and teams as w ell as

building t heir capacities

2. Coordinat ion and corporat ion w ith stakeholders – to get t he support of relevant stakeholders as w ell

as t o share information as w ell as for resource mobilizat ion

3. Preparedness and mit igat ion –to reduce t he risk of the people through soft w are and hardware

programming

4. Advocacy – Influence the government aut horities and officials to change or develop and also t o

implement exist ing policies.

4. Goal and Objectives

Goal

:

Healthy & Safer community

Objectives

4. To reduce substance abuse

5. To decrease mortality & morbidity due to communicable disease

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Dh ampura VCA Repor t by Group

6. Program Strategies

5. Communit y mobilizat ion - organizing communit ies by format ion of commit tees and teams as w ell as

building t heir capacities

6. Coordinat ion and corporat ion w ith stakeholders – to get t he support of relevant stakeholders as w ell

as t o share information as w ell as for resource mobilizat ion

7. Preparedness and migrat ion –to reduce t he risk of the people through soft w are and hardware

programming

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Dhampu ra VCA Report b y Grou p

Activities Target group Responsible

Internal

1. Staff recruitment & Office

set up

2. Conduct stakeholders’

meeting X

3. Formation of Village

Disaster Management Committees (VDMC)

Whole community members

Project staff, Grama Niladhari, District Assistant Directors of DMC

4. Conduct awareness

campaign

4.1 Awareness campaign (6

Nos.) on Red Cross dissemination, introduction to DM, Dengue, Skin diseases, Good health habits

Community members

Project Staff, PHI, Community leaders

Trained staff

(HR), logistics X X X X X

4.2 Awareness campaign on

substance abuse (3 Nos)

Selected

community groups

Project staff, Relevant committees (VDMC)

materials on Dengue, Hygiene & Skin disease and substance abuse

Whole community Project staff, technical

agencies

Experienced

staff, logistics X

6. Conduct monthly

meetings of VDMCs

Community

members VDMC Logistics X X X X X X X X X X X X

7. Formation and training of

village response team on FA, Health, Relief, Evacuation, Hygiene and security committees

Selected community members

Trained RC staff and volunteers

Experienced and trained staff/ Existing committees

X X X X

8. Conduct quarterly

stakeholder meetings

VDMC leaders Community

centre, X X X X

9. Establishment of youth

and children clubs

Youth members and School children as age groups

SLRCS Youth & community members

Youth

Committee X

10. Conduct medical camps

(bi-annually)

Elderly people, children and other vulnerable

VDMC & Red Cross Staff

Trained staff (HR), materials, logistics

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Dhampu ra VCA Report b y Grou p

Activities Target group Responsible

Internal

11. Conduct environmental

cleaning activities regularly

People living around the canal and the drainage system

VDMC & Municipal Council/ Red Cross Staff

X X X X X

12. Controlling of mosquito

breeding places (Fumigation in the mosquito breeding places)

Whole community

Municipal Council/ VDMC and Red Cross Staff

13. Organize Two community

gatherings Whole community

X X X X

14. Support celebration of

community festivals and significant days

Whole community VDMC & Red Cross

Staff

Trained staff (HR), materials,

logistics X X X

15. Renovate existing

common toilets Whole Community

Construction Cell/ Skilled & unskilled community members

X X X

16. Renovate culverts Whole Community VDMC & Red Cross _Staff

Construction Cell/ Skilled & unskilled community members

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