Ram Rahim Survey

Today I spent the day working on the Ram Rahim Survey data and report. I was supposed to wait until I got the remaining 250 family forms entered, but it turns out that’ll take a week or two to finish, so we’re going to start with what we have.

Looking at the data was very interesting. There were 619 families surveyed that I looked at in this preliminary report with a total of 3289 people. The families averaged 5 people per family, and ranged from 1 person to 10 people. Most of the residents perform manual labor. They average less than $100 per month! The average education level for the about 50% of the population that is educated is 9 years. Only 80 people admit to having an addiction (mostly tobacco), but I’m guessing that it was underreported and that number is much higher. About 100 families do not have a toilet in their house – half of these use the government toilets, and the other half use the river! In addition, there are about the same number of families without water in their home – and some of these also use the river as their source of water! Almost all of the families had electricity, but virtually none had a vehicle to get around. The most interesting part to me personally were the questions about family planning. Families averaged 3 kids and over 200 women claimed to have a “family planning operation” which I’m assuming is either a tubal ligation or a hysterectomy. I find that to be very shocking – it’s about one-third of the families!

Even though the health related aspects are the most interesting to me, seeing this data reminds me that every aspect of living plays into lifestyle, which in turn plays into health. I’m hoping to sit down with the coordinator, Barotbhai, in the next few days and talk about what the data tells us about what Manav Sadhna can do for the community based on the needs identified in this assessment. I commend Manav Sadhna for undertaking this survey which was obviously a huge endeavor, and at the start of their work with this community no less – this will really help guide their efforts and ensure the work we do is really addressing what the community needs. I’m excited to set concrete goals and start working towards them in this community and help provide them with the tools to reach their full potential.