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Super Army Std VIII
Project SUPER ARMY is an innovative program that empowers students to fight the war against tobacco using unique weapons like Art, Theatre and Music .
The program developed and worked with 2023 young soldiers, aged 13 to 15 years.
In 2005-2006 the Super Army added 7868 students from over 19 schools. By 2007 we reached out to12, 498 students in 40 schools. Currently, we are in 75 schools reaching out to 17,417 students.
The project creates awareness amongst children on tobacco and introduces them to the concept of refusal skills. Development of leadership, group representation and decision-making is inculcated. The project attempts to give children a strong sense of belonging and self esteem, both of which are core issues in substance abuse. Children are a part of the tobacco problem. Project SUPER ARMY makes them part of the solution.
The young soldiers of SUPER ARMY realizes that each citizen has a role to play. They have urged citizens to dedicate their lives to saving children. Bahadur desh par jaan deta hai… tambaku par nahin. The posters, skits and songs that have emerged from this project travel around the city to spread the message against tobacco.
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Super Army Std IX
In the first year, the Super Army students create awareness with different mediums on tobacco issue. The same students in Std IX continue the fight against tobacco at the Advocacy level, which involves sensitizing and networking with different systems to make appropriate policy and law to make tobacco free future for every child.
It empowers and motivates children to work for the anti-tobacco cause through advocacy. The children aim at making their school and neighbourhood tobacco free. They also work with various government departments like the Police and Food & Drugs Administration, media, health organizations and other likeminded organisations. They are guided towards networking and collaborating with the selected systems to gain their support to strengthen the children’s movement on anti tobacco. It also serves as a platform for students to express their thoughts, views, feelings and demands to create positive change in society. The idea is to develop an understanding among children that they are unique, have potentials, capacities, are responsible and important individuals of society.
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Theatre Against Tobacco
At Salaam Bombay Foundation we have always believed that nothing can ever leave an impact on a mind like a story well told. Children and adults, alike, like to get engaged at an emotional level before they can learn and imbibe values or morals.
Theatre Against Tobacco is one of our most popular, topical and interactive 45-minute slapstick comedy enacted in Hindi. The play has been developed and experimented by the Outreach Program of the Prince Aly Khan Hospital. This play serves to be an excellent ice-breaker and paves the way to a long-term relationship with the children in the war against tobacco. The show has been running for over ten years and has completed over 1235 shows, reaching out to nearly three hundred thousand children across Mumbai city.
This slapstick comedy has enabled us to unlock the imagination of students as well as the teachers. The play employs topical humor, songs and dances to convey its underlying message about the evils of tobacco. It has a high repeat value for all hence allowing us to take the performance to schools year after year.
Strengths
Since the setting is outside the classroom and the context is entertainment rather than education, children are more receptive to the message.
The impact, recall and acceptability are far higher than slide shows and lectures.
The play is immediately followed by a brief discussion to clarify issues, eliminate discomfort and provide hope to the children.
A competition is then held for small groups of children to reinforce the message in an interesting and appealing manner.
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Hero ya Zero
Hero Ya Zero, the exhibition was inaugurated on July 15, 2003 at the Nehru centre by renowned playback singer, Mr. Sudesh Bhosle. The exhibition educates children on tobacco. It teaches children about the harmful effects of tobacco use and the Tobacco Law that protects children. It also provides information on how to quit the habit. Interactive games, discussion, music and film are used to teach students. The exhibition comprises of a series of posters that is manned by youth who have been trained to interact with students and be positive role models.
The program has reached out to over 40,000 children over the last five years. The exhibition continues to travel from school to school, teaching children Hero har dum aagey badhta hai, Zero tambaku ki phansi par chadta hai!
- Hallabol
Hallabol is a three monthly newsletter with the motto -A news paper for the children and by the children. The first edition was inaugurated by Shri. Jairaj Phatak – Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai on 7th Feb. 2008 at Shanmukhananda Hall. The 22,000 children from Mumbai got to read the first copy. By the second edition itself we doubled our circulation to 50,000.
Hallabol is an opportunity to inspire readers for tobacco free society. It also serves as a medium to highlight the achievements of the children related to tobacco control and other activities. It also showcases their success which becomes a role model to the 50,000 and more children reading it across Mumbai.
Post the first edition, we felt that the children need to be a real part of the making of the newsletter. Keeping this in mind we formed an editorial board with the children. The children were chosen from the various schools on the basis of their creative ability of framing ideas and good writing skills.
At the same time, we also formed our own team who put together a training module for these children giving them a basic knowledge on journalism.
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