SAS² India supports an assessment of health risks in the pottery sector of Mumbai

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Rajeev Khedkar, a SAS2 partner in India, recently completed a Certified SAS2 Introductory Workshop for staff of YUVA, a non-governmental organization based in Mumbai and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). About 1,200 families in the Dharavi slum of Mumbai make small lamps for the Diwali festival, flower pots and different kinds of small pots for drinking water. Their incomes are meager and the work difficult, especially for the women that mix the mud into a fine paste, arrange the pots in the kiln, transport kiln fuel, fire the kiln and carry the baked products. Their health is also at risk due to the heavy smoke created by cheap fuels made of cotton dust and oil-soaked cotton used to fire their brick kilns. The air pollution contributes to respiratory health problems among the potters and surrounding areas, which include a large public hospital. One of the first tasks of the project will be to assess the different views of men and women potters regarding the benefits and risks of their trade, using the SAS2 Activity Domain technique.