A city NGO has created a comic book to share Covid-related information and safety precautions amongst children in slums.
The narrator of the book is an urban slum girl who the children would relate to and the book has scenes and issues from the daily lives of these children who are growing up amidst deprivation worsened by the pandemic.
The idea behind the publication “Stay safe stay strong” by NGO Ek Tara is that children across the country “who do not have access to correct information will use this to gain a better understanding” of the Covid pandemic to keep themselves and their families safe.
“Comic books are more relatable for children and we created a character named Tara who our children could identify with and situations that they face in their everyday life without being preachy,” said Anupriya Bhattacharya, executive programme manager, Ek Tara.
The comic book includes a situation where Tara talks about employment being affected in the pandemic — “my father has no job now”.
In another instance, she says: “My school is closed. I miss my teachers...I miss my daily meals and my classroom...”
What follows is why Tara thinks she must “behave in a responsible way” — precautions such as wearing a mask, following physical distancing, washing hands, avoiding large gatherings and getting her family vaccinated.
The importance of wearing masks correctly is heightened because of the small space these children live in.
The publication in four languages, Hindi, Bengal, Marathi and English, has been given to 40,000 children across the country so far.
The book has been illustrated by Falguni Gokhale.
Bhattacharya said it was important to address people living in slums. “For them, the main problem is not the Covid disease but the issues arising out of it, like losing a job, no access to disposable income and no food. We have to tell them that to address other issues, Covid has to be addressed first,” she said.
The book also addresses the emotional needs of a child — if he or she is sad, to approach an adult, mother, sister or a teacher.
