Awareness
If you don’t KNOW it, you can’t destroy it! Addiction usually starts as fun,
ends in disaster. Be it cigarette, tobacco chewing or alcohol. In spite of all the
ill effects, drinking-smoking gets a social sanction and is being brazenly glamorized.
Hence it is integral part of Parivartan work to make people aware of the fact that
getting into any such habit can ruin their life. For last 25 years, we have been
engaging ourselves in various awareness campaigns to spread the message that habits
of drinking alcohol or chewing /smoking tobacco could turn into a disease called
addiction and secondly that addiction is a disease of mind and can be brought under
control if treated appropriately . Some of our initiatives include –
• Students campaign against addictions.
• Self-help meetings of family members of the addict persons.
• Lectures at schools and colleges.
• Organizing the programmes where de-addicted friends from Parivartan share their
story with the people.
• Tobacco eradication campaign for school children and college youth.
• Connecting with people from various social and cultural platforms throughout the
year.
Parivartan observes the following days with some special programmes every year –
31st May: World no tobacco day (Established by WHO)
26th June: The international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking
(Established by the UN)
2nd October to 9th October: ‘The week against addiction’ starting from Mahatma
Gandhi Jayanti
24th December to 31st December: Yuva Vyasan Virodhi Nirdhar (Youth against
addiction) to resist the excessive usage of alcohol as a part of New Year celebrations.
A campaign called Chala Vyasan Badnam Karuya (Let’s defame the addiction) is run
in this week by the young volunteers.
31st December: Milk distribution through various channels on the New Year’s
Eve. Encouraging people to take an oath against alcohol consumption.
Women, like in case of many social problems, are the sufferers in this case also.
In all its awareness campaigns, Parivartan has kept its major focus on women to
help them handle the problems arising out of drinking (or other addiction) problem
of any of the male members of the family.