Honeywell Safe Schools Program organizes Beat the Heat awareness drive in East Delhi
Photo by : Incredible India Info
Cool Roof painting the roof of the house with lime wash was carried out by SEEDS team with community members and Honeywell volunteers. Lime wash helps reduce the surface temperature by 10-15 degrees
SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society) as a part of its Honeywell Safe Schools Program organized a ‘Beat the Heat’ awareness building program at JJ Indira Camp, Kishan Kunj in East Delhi. The ‘Beat the Heat’ drive was organized to create awareness in the community about heatwaves, risks involved and ways to be prepared to mitigate the risks.
India is facing soaring heatwave conditions with temperature reaching beyond 40 degrees. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) 15thApril report, maximum temperatures was recorded at 45°C, which was substantially above the normal in large parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana.
This year, Delhi has witnessed an unusually hot March, with temperatures wavering between 36 to 39 degrees on an average. The IMD has predicted further increase in the intensity of the heat wave and its severity.
The ‘Beat the Heat’ awareness building exercise at JJ Indira Camp, Kishan Kunj in East Delhi, with over 75 community members, SEEDS team members along with volunteers from Honeywell India, stressed upon sensitising community members including children about the concept of heat wave, possible health issues that are caused due to the heat wave, and measures that need to be taken to protect themselves from extreme heat (what clothes to wear, what kind of food should be eaten etc.) via interactive sessions.
As a part of the ‘Beat the Heat’ session, parents and children of the community came together to be a part of an interactive Q&A session with SEEDS team members. The community members via the session were explained about the impact of heat waves and tips to keep the community safe during scorching summers. Following this, a ‘Hot-spot hunt’ was organized, wherein community members went around the locality to record temperatures across different spots and were educated on how to manage varying temperatures during heat waves. The ‘Beat the Heat’ awareness drive was concluded by a Cool Roof activity, wherein the community members painted roofs with lime wash. The lime wash activity educated the community on the positive impact; reducing surface temperature of the roof by 10-15 C degrees and cutting down electricity bills by 26%, eventually assisting them during peak summer months.
SEEDS along with Honeywell India as a part of the Honeywell Safe Schools Program organize monthly community outreach programs to build awareness amongst the people in East Delhi. Through these awareness building exercises, it is the endeavour of the Honeywell Safe Schools Program to ensure communities are well aware of everyday risks they are exposed to and ways to protect themselves and those around them.
Honeywell Safe Schools is a pioneering school safety program that brings a tailor-made, child-first approach towards risk reduction, empowering children to become change agents for building resilience in the communities. Funded by Honeywell India and implemented by SEEDS India, the program involves structural assessment of 50 Delhi government schools by engineers and architects; evaluation of risk perception among children, teachers and parents; and examination of preparedness in the face of any natural or manmade disaster. The program will reach 25,000 children, 40,000 parents, and 1,000 teachers in by 2020.
SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society) is a not-for-profit organisation that enables community resilience through practical solutions in the areas of disaster readiness, response and rehabilitation.
Since 1994, the organization has worked extensively on every major disaster in the Indian subcontinent – grafting innovative technology on to traditional wisdom. It has reached out to families affected by disasters and climate stresses; strengthened and rebuilt schools and homes; and has invariably put its faith in skill building, planning and communications to foster long-term resilience. SEEDS is also India’s first agency to be certified for the global Core Humanitarian Standards – an international certification system for quality and accountability in humanitarian response.
SEEDS completed 25 years of outstanding service to humanity in 2019 and is re-anchoring its approach to building resilience through innovation. It continues to empower the most vulnerable across Asia to build a better future.
PHOTO CAPTION: During a community awareness building program on heat wave – ‘Beat the Heat’, a Cool Roof activity was organised by SEEDS as a part of its Honeywell Safe Schools program at JJ Indira Camp, Kishan Kunj in East Delhi to demonstrate to the community inexpensive ways to keep the interiors of their houses cool by painting the roofs with lime wash.
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