Lessons in Building Community

In an effort to create anemia awareness in Bagar, I began by targeting a fairly large community (spanning three wards) known as Jaatavas. In addition to larger campaigns aimed at public awareness, I was to establish a group of 20 women that I would work closely with to ensure that they understand what anemia is, how it is caused, and how to address it. This group would serve as a means to the end goal of anemia awareness by creating leaders in the community that understood anemia and valued anemia prevention. These women would then be equipped to promote iron-rich meals and iron pills (when necessary) within their families and hopefully within their community.

There are a plethora of factors that come into play during the formation of such a group; some factors which ultimately determine the ways in which the group is successful, and other neglected factors that account for the ways in which the group falls short of its potential. Generally speaking, I’ve found that consistency, reliability, and honesty play critical roles in establishing a group in which you require a significant amount of trust from the members.

I understood at the onset that relationship building would be critical in gaining the women’s trust. Consequently, my approach centered on getting to know the women on a personal level. The abundance of questions I showered them with might have seemed an interrogation to some, but the women enjoyed it. With each woman I witnessed a fleeting look of surprise, an embarrassed smile, or a hearty laugh that showed me that most people rarely paid such attention to them. In this small way, they appreciated my silly “Aapki manpasand sabzi kya hai”-type questions and let down their walls. I also believe that my interest in the kids and other family members in the household made it easier for the women to warm up to me.

Shortly after meeting the women I decided would be in my group, a small article appeared in the Shekawati Times about me working with women in Jaatavas on anemia. Some of the women I was working with mentioned the article to me right away when I saw them that day. I believe this small article lent some credibility to my work and the group, further building their trust in me. In addition, I wonder if the article gave them a sense of pride for being chosen to be part of the group.

I also believe that it was important, especially before the first group meeting, for the women to see that they were a small part of a larger group; that other women in their community had also been identified as anemic and that they too chose to actively address their anemia by being a part of the group. The women eagerly examined the list of group members I carried with me during house visits, and their quiet nods upon returning the list to me conveyed an approval of sorts.

The first group meeting was also another way to both show the women that they weren’t alone and to legitimize my work. I had brought mithai to the meeting to show my appreciation to the women for making the time to come. Much to my surprise, the women were taken aback by the offering…in fact, they were touched. In ways that I hadn’t quite intended, the mithai communicated the fact that I was genuinely interested in helping them.

At this first meeting, a woman in the group that had first-hand experience with anemia and iron pills spoke to the others about her experience and how she felt after increasing her hemoglobin count from 5 to 10 a few months earlier. She was passionately explaining the value of the iron pills I was to distribute to the group that day, in a way and with a conviction that I could not have. I’ll never be aware of just how critical her diatribe was that day, but I do know that the majority of the women there that heard her speak have been taking their iron pills very regularly.