#ChildFriendlySmartMandals

PRIA is building the participatory involvement of all stakeholders, in particular tthe people residing in the villages and wards of cities of Anandapuram Mandal in Vishakapatnam District, Adhra Pradesh to make it a SMART, child-friendly mandal. In a recent field visit to Boni Gram Panchayat, Sudha Samyukta Mutnury, Program Officer, and Kenda Chang, an intern at PRIA, engaged with the community, anganwadi workers and schools to learn how they see their own village.

Located in Anandapuram, Boni GP is a strong community with dedicated leadership and motivated citizens. The SarpanchMr Satya Varaprasada Rao has been the army behind a Smart Boni. Boni has achieved ODF status through initiatives such as the CSLs pictured left and is a clean and inviting GP with its colorful murals and planter boxes.

We first engaged with the community through a transect walk where they were able to see and be told about Boni by its citizens.

Our visit to the anganwadi centre gave us the opportunity to both record dataas well as interview the Anganwadi worker and some mothers. We vistied a school in another hamlet of Boni where we observed students and interviewed the teachers.

A focus group discussion with community members about livelihoods and the women’s Self Help Groups revealed Boni citizens enjoy a healthy lifestyle in their community and are motivated to take further steps to continue to build upon their successes. 

The citizens of Boni identified access to healthcare as vital if they are to improve their community. For this, they would like to build a Primary Health Centre.