When I decided to come to India with HELP, I knew there would be many opportunities to gain some real-life experience in my major, public health. Upon getting here, I learned that one of the biggest problems for people living in the slums is tobacco and alcohol abuse. Men in these communities earn about 200-300 rupees a day, which is about $4-6, while women earn about half of that. By spending a substantial amount of their already meager income to feed their addictions, individuals and communities are greatly affected.
We’ve been conducting classes to educate the men and women about the effects of their alcohol and tobacco use. In addition to causing numerous health problems, it often leads to more abuse within families, and it can financially limit them from things like sending their children to school or buying enough food and water.
Although we hope that every person who comes to our classes will immediately stop using these substances, we know that this is probably unlikely. However, we do set realistic goals with the individuals on changes they can make. I’ve seen how excited many of them are, especially the women, to share what they’ve learned with others, so we’re glad that we’ve planted the seeds for successful behavior change.
Here are some photos from three classes we’ve had in the past couple weeks:
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| Our translator, Urmi, has been invaluable in reaching across the language barrier we face while teaching. |
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