Working Shoulder to Shoulder to Stop COVID-19

When the coronavirus struck the state, she was therefore quick off the mark in organizing trainings for all government functionaries in her village on handwashing for prevention of COVID-19 transmission in the village with the help of PSI India.

Vennela adds people in the village had fallen prey to several myths about COVID-19, such as only people in cities would be infected while those living in villages were ‘strong’ and thus would not be affected by the disease, etc. the villagers also thought merely washing their hands with water was enough for clean hands. Realizing the gravity of the problem, Vennela - from April to June, 2021 – ensured blanket coverage of all households in the village through IPC activity; this activity was repeated at least three times in the aforementioned period. This helped clear the myths and misunderstandings that prevailed earlier in people’s minds, especially since the trainings and awareness generation was conducted by both government and PSI India functionaries. Vennela is convinced her approach has helped the community view the pandemic and related prohibitive behaviour from a very positive perspective and adopt the behavioural changes so quickly and readily.

When she organized the trainings, Vennela ensured that key stakeholders
in her village - Village Volunteers, anganwadi teachers, ASHA workers,
ANMs and Sanghamitra – participated and were aware of these trainings.