Sometimes people ask, “What is the real-world use of training ASHA workers in wildlife awareness?” A few weeks ago, we got our answer and a renewed pride in the work we do.
Here is what happened.
While returning from a program in the Sundarbans, our team including Co-founder and Secretary Suvrajyoti Chatterjee and Field Coordinator Santanu Das received an urgent call: a snake was badly entangled in a ghost net in Dhosa, Purba Gabberia, South 24 Parganas.
The caller wasn’t just anyone but an ASHA worker who had recently attended one of our training sessions.
Instead of the usual panic or a fatal blow to the snake, she chose a different path. Because of the HEAL Snake Identification Calendar and the leaflets she kept from our program, she was able to:
1️⃣ Correctly identify the species as a Monocled Cobra
2️⃣ Find our helpline number and call immediately
3️⃣ Ensure the snake was safely rescued and rehabilitated
That simple act of identification turned a potential conflict into a successful rescue and rehabilitation. We are proud to continue our outreach programs, knowing that every ASHA worker trained is a guardian for the local ecosystem.
A testament to how grassroots education transforms potential conflict into conservation.
Read more about our ASHA worker training session here
More on HEAL’s work in the Sundarbans to minimise human-snake conflict here