43-year-old Sunita Kasera is the only female member of the 150 member strong Karauli Press Union in Rajasthan. Sunita feels that Karauli is a backward district that offers little opportunity to local residents. Although Sunita completed her graduation from Jaipur University, after marriage, her in-laws insisted she stay at home. In her spare time, Sunita joined an NGO, Sathya Naval…
In Rajasthan, an NGO uses puppet shows to raise awareness on environmental issues.
As in many places in India, garbage and pollution are major problems in Rajasthan. According to Sunita, "littered garbage is a big issue, because people are not aware of the related risks".
Some organisations have decided to take action. Thus, Nib and Lens Communication have launched a campaign to raise awareness on environmental issues, such as littered garbage and water waste. In order to reach a wider audience, the NGO has decided to use puppetry, an important part of traditional culture in Rajasthan. Thus, the message is conveyed in the form of drama, songs or entertaining stories. Sunita noticed that “people are very supportive during the show”.
And it seems the campaign has been a success. For Sunita, there was definitely a change: “people were more educated, including myself. The place has become cleaner, people are not dumping garbage in front of their house anymore”. Now, the government has to take note of this change, and should provide for more bins and increases garbage collection.
For Sunita, Nib and Lens Communication now should keep on campaigning using other mediums, such as local TV channels and newspapers. She hopes her video could play a role in this campaign, and will bring about some more changes around her.
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