Rosaline Pinto: ‘There’s lack of awareness’

Rosaline Pinto, a school teacher in an Indian village, is taking steps to educate children about rabies as they are most at risk from their frequent contact with animals.

Pinto is a part of the Adopt-a-Village project by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), where misconceptions of the disease are tackled through awareness programmes within the community.

“In my experience as a teacher since the past 20 years, I have seen several children with dog bites,” she says. “Majority of the times, children don’t reveal this incident to their parents.There is lack of awareness among people in our village regarding rabies, and traditional practises, like application of herbs to wounds and consulting religious practitioners, continue to be practised.”

“We teach our school children the dos and don’ts following dog/animal bites through an innovative ‘snake and ladder game’ given to us from the project team.”

Pinto and her team have organised rabies awareness rallies, exhibited posters, and have conducted drawing and painting competitions on the topic of rabies and its prevention.

Pinto’s work involves helping the children learn how to play, enjoy and respect animals in a safe way – she is another of many frontline health heroes of Lifelines: The Quest for Global Health.

Lifelines: The Quest for Global Health will air on Al Jazeera in 2014.