Manual and Toolkit Design

Addressing Issues of Sexual and Reproduction Health Rights

First Semester Studio Project

June 2019 - November 2019

Masters in Social Design,

Ambedkar University, New Delhi

The Problem

"Jai Hind Camp", one of the many "jhuggi-jhopdi" (JJ) clusters of New Delhi, is located in Vasant Vihar, part of the posh South of the city. With the majority of the residents consisting of migrant population hailing from a place called Cooch-Behar in West Bengal, this cluster has been in the middle of land disputes and possible evictions for many years now. While housing and living conditions are grave in the camp, other pertinent issues like early marriage of young girls and lack of access to health facilities are rampant. Through focused group discussions with a select group of women and young adolescent girls, it was clear that -

there are no conversations around healthcare in the household, or in the institutions that they access (like schools), especially around reproductive health
this is a taboo subject, muddled with existing beliefs that "the girls would run away with a boy if they are not married early", leading to decisions that impact the futures of the young girls of this community
access to media through the internet becomes a source of information as well as misinformation for the young girls and boys, as well as their parents, leading to creation of misconceptions and fear

Thus, creating a space where there is dialogue around one's sexual and reproductive health and their rights, bringing both the girls and the parents (especially the mothers) on a common platform, can help the stakeholders make informed decisions about their future and head towards a better, healthier life.

the design idea

In order to initiate dialogue between these various stakeholders, the idea is to create a manual along with a toolkit that can cover the various subjects that are part of the umbrella term known as ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights’. Both of these are tools consist of different forms of communication – the manual consists of activities and written material; the toolkit consists of visual and audio material that has been created by various other organizations. This approach would ensure more accessibility for all the stakeholders, and allow more interest in topics that are difficult to talk about.

Why another manual?

After referring to several manuals created by many organizations, the question of creating another manual need answering to –

Many manuals, many approaches: While there are various manuals that address issues around Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, each manual has a different approach. Many consist of difficult exercises that would possibly confuse the reader (most likely the facilitator) making it difficult to execute the activities.
Use of other media: Most manuals are stand-alone and do not incorporate other media like films, videos or audio stories, which can make the facilitation easy and accessible.
One Stakeholder Group: Most manuals are targeted towards a single stakeholder group only. They do not consist of exercises that can bring different stakeholders into the conversation.

the process

SECONDARY RESEARCH

Using data available online in the form of news clippings and a few research papers, we were able to collect the following information about our site, Jai Hind Camp.

Jai Hind Camp (also popularly known as ‘Bengali Basti’) is an unauthorized colony or a JJ cluster in Masoodpur Village in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The first residents of this cluster came here about 27-30 years ago, migrating from ‘Cooch Behar’, a district in West Bengal, looking for better livelihood opportunities. Currently, there is an estimated population of 5000 residents in this cluster who are from Cooch Behar, with some from Assam, UP and Bihar.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

This research was conducted in two processes – one, through a group and two, individually. Below is a snapshot of each of these.

GROUP PROCESS

The Jai Hind Camp site was divided into various parts amongst the class. Our group, consisting of 3 people, received a small patch. We collected basic demographic information based on informal conversations and observations in our designated area.

Through our observations, we found the following things -

Built Structures: The site of study consists of semi-permanent built structures which were homes of the residents of Jai Hind Camp. They were made of corrugated tin, bamboo and re-used fabric and flex. The only permanent built structures were a school created by Srishti (NGO) and a community toilet built by the Delhi Development Authority.
Spatial Movements: Most women use the main street to commute to their working spaces. The inner streets of the site are least active in terms of movements. There is a high presence of street vendors who occupy that space. Structures like boundary walls are occupied by men for their leisure activities.
Resource Mapping: The residents receive electricity mediated by Temple and Mosque of the community through sub-meters. They pay Rs. 9-10 per unit, amounting to a total bill of Rs. 2000-3000 every month. Water is a scarce resource, mostly obtained through water tankers provided by Delhi Jal Board. Each family is able to get water 3 times in a month, leading to a less per capita of water for each family member. Other infrastructure includes Satellite Dish TV that can be seen on the roof of almost every household.

INDIVIDUAL PROCESS

FOCUSED GROUP DISCUSSIONS: A series of focused-group discussions were conducted with two stakeholders – women and their adolescent girls. Below is a snapshot of the different activities and the problems identified through them.

Through these various discussions, several gaps were identified from the perspective of Adolescent girls, their parents and the institutions that they access (like their schools).

CREATING STAKEHOLDER MAPS AND USER PERSONAS: The Stakeholder Map and user personas that were created highlight the various stakeholders that become an important part of the design process of the manual. It was necessary to have different stakeholders as that was something missing from the design of manuals that I had referred to.

DESIGNING THE MANUAL AND THE TOOLKIT: The manual has been divided into activities that would cater to the different stakeholders. Some activities have been designed to showcase as examples for further development.

The toolkit has been imagined as a resource pool consisting different types of material curated through the various subjects covered in the manual. This would become a good aid to the facilitator to open conversations of difficult subjects.

DESIGNING THE ENGAGEMENT PLAN: The aim of creating the engagement plan was to assist the facilitator in scheduling the various activities that are part of the manual. This would allow the facilitator to keep track of what activities are being done, and which stakeholders are being engaged with.

FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THIS PROJECT

For any manual to be effective, several processes of prototyping and testing need to be done in order to understand how activities work in the settings of the space. Along with time, training of facilitators becomes a key part of this process, as their implementation and insights would form an integral part of developing the manual and the toolkit.