The workshops for adulteration testing aim to help consumer by understanding the quality of the products they use on daily basis, especially spices, that are the most crucial element in the preparations of Indian cuisines. Frequent drives are therefor held to help people learn easy methods to test purity of such products. The volunteers adopt and educate people about how to distinguish from an adulterous product and be aware.
Each year in the month of October, Just Open Yourself Society opens its Clothes Collection Campaign where people can donate clothes throughout the month. The campaign is announced on Social media platforms and invites donations as well as collaborations from other organizations and NGOs as well. The aim of this drive is to spread the warmth and smile as the winter season approaches. After a month of collection, the clothes are segregated as per sizes and age groups and bundled up into sets. These bundles are then distributed over a span of 3-4 days in a row in remote areas and to people with dire need. Over the years, JOY has conducted some really successful clothes distribution drives with a milestone of having distributed over 70,000 clothes in a day. As numbers keep growing, more and more volunteers pour to assist and participate in this drive each year.
The agenda of JOY includes the conduction of frequent and regular medical camps being set up in remote areas and slum areas to help out people who cannot afford the luxury of expensive medical care. Camps are held on quarterly basis with collaboration with Shri Mahant Inderesh Hospital, where a team of trained doctors dedicate an entire day in attending to these individuals. Experts in various specializations supervise the entire drive and conduct all medical tests and distribute medicines at free of cost. People with serious conditions and immediate extensive aid are provided with special cards that allows them the opportunity to visit the hospital in the span of next 10 days to get free surgeries and more comprehensive tests if needed. The purpose of these camps is to provide medical aid to people of all age groups who cannot afford these services.
Just Open Yourself society frequently organizes all women volunteered drives addressing the issue of menstrual education for underprivileged girls. These drives and workshops are supervised by an expert and gynecologists to best address the menstrual hygiene dos and don’ts. The sessions are often conducted in government schools and slum areas where awareness level is very low and therefore room for ignorance and faulty habits. Volunteers personally interact with girls and help them speak about the taboos surrounding periods by giving scientific and rational explanations and helping them understand the difference between menstrual myths and realities. Taking a step forward, JOY conducts sanitary distribution drives in these areas and also helps in providing education about alternate menstrual kits that can be made at cost-effective prices and are better substitutes to using leaves and ashes.
We understand how important is the process of menstrual cycle in the lives of women and how the lack of it’s hygiene and awareness leads to diseases and even fatal conditions in women. Therefore, to address this seriousness, workshops are held to emphasize the due attention that this issue needs. Interacting with underprivileged girls and women, telling them the biological processes, addressing their fears and beliefs, helping them with remedies and sanitation tools, conducting workshops for making sanitary napkins, all fall under the roles and responsibilities of JOY volunteers.
The project of making LED bulbs started under Hero Moto Corp and SPECS a couple of years ago where JOY volunteers and members learned to make LED blubs and sockets from scratch with the aim to minimize electronic waste and reduce migration of people from hills to cities. Thereafter many workshops were held in collaboration to SPECS and various prestigious schools in Dehradun where students were encouraged to make bulbs irrespective of their educational streams and backgrounds. Under this initiative more than 70 thousand LED bulbs have been distributed to almost 28 Gram Sabhas in Dehradun, Uttarkashi and Haridwar Districts. JOY has conducted many workshops in the past few years and one of the most successful one has been at Doon School under the Student Exchange Program that involved students from 11 countries.
Just Open Yourself Society conducts blood donation and awareness drives at least on a quarterly basis in collaboration with Shri Mahant Inderesh Hospital. During these drives a team of trained doctors assist in blood unit collection, blood testing to check levels of sugar, hemoglobin and other hormones as well. Open invitations are promoted via social media, banners and pamphlets.
One of the most successful campaign under this initiative was a rigorous blood donation drive that lasted for a span of almost 75 days where on every alternate day, check up booths were set up in various school, colleges, offices and societies to encourage people to donate blood and contribute. This campaign was highly successful as people across the city of Dehradun poured in heavy numbers to donate and spread awareness.
A significant importance is given to the need of education in the lives of children. JOY holds special drives where distribution of stationary kits is held in government schools of remote areas. These drives are often conducted along with interactive sessions with the children. The volunteers of JOY engage with kids and organize drawing competitions and general knowledge quizzes for the students to not only build a connect with them but also educate them about the happenings of the world. The distribution drives are held on week-days where interaction is also done with teachers do understand the working of the schools, their setbacks and challenges. The aim to organize such drives is to help students get basic stationary tools and also have a re-creational day learning and doing activities that bring them joy as well as knowledge. The agendas of these drives are also pre-determined as per the need of the individual group that JOY interacts with, for example often specially dedicated workshops are organized to help children fill out forms, to improve general awareness, to learn about the state of Uttrakhand and more.
The Blanket distribution drives are held frequently during the winter season that is in the months of November, December and January when the weather is most hostile for people for who are homeless and poor. The team of volunteers invites donations of blankets through out these months and once substantial number of blankets have been collected, these are distributed to people in need during night drives. A certain number of blankets are purchased by the team themselves to make sure that there is proper distribution to those in dire need.
Just Open Yourself Society values the innate beauty of the city and to make sure that only more points are added to the architectural aspect of it, the volunteers conduct frequent wall painting drives. These paintings are done on roadside wall that are otherwise used only for sticking pamphlets and posters. JOY focuses on using that space to not only provide a platform for art and creativity but also add more life and vibe to the city. Hence, these paintings are theme based and have powerful and though-provoking messages on them. Each wall undergoes the process of being cleaned and then turned into a masterpiece by the creative volunteers who use meaningful symbols and quotes to turn the plain looking wall into a beautiful creation. These paintings are dedicated to themes and issues like: women empowerment, wildlife conservation, road safety, need for education, importance of health and sanitation and more. The presence of these wall paintings, discourages the practice of open urination as people are forced to think twice thereby helping maintain public sanitation.
The drive of water testing is a crucial process for the Just Open Yourself Society as rivers have been a part of Uttakhand’s essence. Over the years many rivers have dried up and vanished as if they never existed. To combat with this issue, JOY’s agenda focuses immensely on keeping a track on the lifespan and water quality of rivers that battle for existence. Volunteers of JOY conduct frequent tests to check the pH level, TDS and chemical ratings of the water flowing in these rivers to understand if it requires attention. In case a river is found to have levels that are above the safe levels, a detailed report is then drafted by the members and sent to government ministries for immediate attention and action.
One such ongoing project is related to Suswa River that used to be one of the cleanest rivers in Dehradun, Uttarakhand and its water was used by local households for drinking purposes. Unfortunately, this river lost its beauty because of over consumption and negligence. The river has eventually transformed into a sewer. JOY, took an initiative on 2nd of April 2017 in collaboration with SPECS and Behbood and conducted a water test in Suswa River, Dudhli Valley. The water samples from the river bed with each sample being collected after interval of 50m. Meanwhile it’s pH and TDS ratings were also checked. The second test will be done after a time period of 15 days. The results will then be forwarded to the government in order to save this dying stream.