Even though dengue has always been an issue of major concern amidst the metropolitan bustle which is Dhaka city, its recent outbreak has been unprecedented to say the least. With over 13,670 recorded instances of people effected accompanied by 29 documented deaths and the unofficial numbers going as high as 77, widespread measures have been taken by the city corporation and the government. Amidst this situation, a youth organization by the name of “Iccheghuri” has taken the initiative, upon its inception, to raise social awareness regarding this surge in dengue and its prevention through the launch of their first dengue-prevention campaign at the heart of Dhanmondi on 2nd August, 2019.
“Iccheghuri” is a volunteer-based organization created to fight social issues through mass campaigning. Even though the founding members are all proud representatives of our school Sunnydale, the organization has a current membership base of 50 with numbers increasing every day. The organization will also soon be open to students from all schools across the city. When asked about their drive behind creating the social movement to raise awareness, Orthy Aiyana, one of the founding members of Iccheghuri replied, “We have always strived to make a difference in the society by making people more aware about the dangers they face and how they can prevent them. We being member of this youth based organization, devote ourselves to do social work with the goal of making our society a little better by the time we are done compared to when we started.”
The first campaign began on the 2nd of August in Dhanmondi 11/A. It was addressing the dengue outbreak throughout our nation’s capital. The students split themselves up into groups, assigning each group different roads with a plan of covering as many houses as possible. They went door to door, leaflets in hand informing people about the dangers of dengue, its symptoms, and treatments and how to prevent it. Their leaflets outlined these in detail. Apart from covering over 100 apartments, the students also approached pedestrians outside mosques, people visiting clinics, shoppers at supermarkets, vendors and those under more immediate threat of getting the disease. These people were cautioned about the effects of the disease and told how to protect themselves against it.
Since its humble beginnings, “Iccheghuri” has already managed to garner the attention and support of influential media figures such as the likes of Anisul Hoque who has pledged his unwavering support for the youth organization and has promised to help them as far as possible. Nazif Ishrak, another founding member of Iccheghuri has reflected on this saying, “Our goal has always been to harness the diligence of us students into achieving greater good for the society. It is a great boost in morale for everyone when such larger-than-life figures endorse their support for us. We hope to use this boost in confidence to drive our program even further in the near future.” After the completion of their initial campaigns, “Iccheghuri” plans on arranging more campaigns in different parts of the city regarding dengue in the coming days and also hopes to undertake the distribution of materials necessary for the prevention of this disease.
Jabir Mahmood Chowdhury
Editor-in-Chief