Education India Project #31546

Fighting Malnutrition Through Child Care in India

by Seva Mandir

Project Report | Sep 14, 2020
Moving Ahead with New Hopes

By Atul Lekhra | Programme Incharge

Dear Friend,

I hope this update finds you and your loved ones in good health.

Together, we are facing a truly unprecedented situation. The global coronavirus pandemic is affecting all of our families, our businesses, our communities, and our way of life. The Covid-19 pandemic is a two-pronged health and economic crisis, and requires a two-pronged response.

From the start of the Covid-19 lockdown in India, Seva Mandir began relief efforts to support families who were most in need in Udaipur and Rajsamand districts.

We provided more than 50,000 relief kits (for food, sanitation, storing grain, sanitary pads, and personal protection) along with supporting the regional government to distribute an additional 38,000 relief kits. Our awareness campaign was able to spread correct information and advice related to the pandemic, reaching more than 160,000 people.

The distribution of relief kits and awareness materials helped families through the initial stages of the crisis. The rapid support provided by individuals, institutions, foundations and corporates was instrumental to the success of our relief efforts.

In our last report, we shared with you the steps which Seva Mandir had taken for the safety and security of the people living in its rural areas. But now the scenario has completely changed, people now are aware about Covid-19 and they also know the ways to keep themselves safe and protected from this virus.

As the initial brunt of the crisis is over and the lockdown is slowly lifted, Seva Mandir’s focus is now on developing and implementing long-term relief for communities and individuals through livelihood interventions.

The economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown are now becoming clear. Migrant labourers have returned back to their villages and are now out of work and putting extra pressure on the meagre resources of their households.

Seva Mandir is building the capacity of individuals, families and communities to adapt to the new normal and continue in leading their own development.

To mitigate the economic effects of Covid-19, Seva Mandir is rapidly expanding its comprehensive livelihood support to ensure families and communities have the tools, knowledge and ability to continue to improve their lives.

We are deeply grateful for your overwhelming support and messages of encouragement. Until now, over INR 6 million (USD 80,000) has been spent in providing relief.

We are committed to continuing to serve the communities we work with, and we know you will be too. The world will come out stronger after we beat the coronavirus.

Thank you, and sending our best wishes for yours and your family and friends safety.

Regards

Atul Lekhra and the Seva Mandir team

Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir

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May 1, 2020
Protecting Children during Covid-19

By Atul Lekhra | Programme Incharge

Namaste,

We hope that you, your family and loved ones are safe and in good health.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought countries to a standstill in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus. India has been under lockdown since the end of March and, although it is necessary, it is having a huge effect on the economy. It is this economic downturn that is hitting families living in poverty the hardest.

As you are aware, many children in the area Seva Mandir works in suffer from low nutrition and are malnourished as a result of a number of complex problems all related to poverty. The lockdown has affected the availability of food in rural areas, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get nutritional vegetables and fruits to keep families and children healthy.

The lockdown has meant that we have had to take the step to temporarily close our Balwadis. This was not an easy decision to take, but a necessary one to protect our staff, the Balwadi’s Sanchalikas, the communities, and, of course, the children.

The temporary closure has not stopped our efforts to care for these children or provide their families with support. To maintain social distancing rules, the Sanchalikas, Village Institutions and Seva Mandir field staff are conducting regular check-ups on families by mobile phone. They are training mothers and giving them advice on how to care for their children during this crisis, and to ensure that they have enough nutrition to stay healthy. We are also distributing nutritional supplements to the children once a week.

For families that do not have the ability or finances to access vital supplies such as food, we are providing them with relief kits.

We are distributing food kits (consisting of nutritional vegetables, grains, rice, oil, spices, and salt) and sanitation kits (comprising of soap and detergent), both enough to last a family of 5 for 2 weeks. Importantly, we are also providing farmers with grain-storage kits and tarpaulins to increase the amount of food they can store – essential as the harvesting season approaches.

Until now, we have reached 24,300 families- distributing 19,100 sanitation kits, 1,500 food kits, and 2,000 grain-storage kits. We are also aiding the government in their relief efforts.

However, there are still many more families left to reach, and you can help us provide lifesaving aid to them. You can give your support to our Covid-19 project by clicking here. Your donation to this fund will provide relief and support to the families of these communities during this challenging time.

You can be part of this effort whether it is by donating directly to Seva Mandir, by spreading the word of Seva Mandir to people you know, or just by sending us your messages of support.

You can keep up to date with our efforts on our dedicated Covid-19 page on our website. Click here to access it.

Once again, thank you for your unwavering support. Please stay healthy and keep social distancing.

Regards

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team

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Dec 31, 2019
New Year Greetings and Wishes from Small Kids!

By Atul Lekhra | Programme Incharge

Dear Friend,

Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year!! May this New Year brings with it an abundance of joys and infinite happiness to you!

Thank you for your support to our project ‘Fighting Malnutrition Through Child Care in India’. Your support is bringing real changes in the lives of small children.

Seva Mandir, which was initiated in 1968, works in more than 1300 tribal villages of Rajasthan with the mission of ensuring that the poorest members of the society have access to quality education, health care and stable livelihoods by empowering every individual to create a true democracy.

One of the most vulnerable groups with which Seva Mandir works are young children. Huge poverty faces parents to work to make ends meet and so often mothers of young children are unable to look after their children properly. Either the mothers have to carry young children to agriculture field, forests or labor sites or leave them in the care of elder siblings who themselves are quite young. As a result, children suffer from lack of security, care, health and full development. Seva Mandir runs Balwadis, day care cum pre-school centers which provide care, health and pre-school education to such children.

Ghanashyam attends a Balwadi located in Kotra block, one of the poorest areas of India. The instructor of the Balwadi was told by a Balsakhi (woman trained by Seva Mandir to provide care to children) that the child was malnourished and the mother was leaving him at home while she worked in the fields. The Balsakhi told the instructor that the child was not being looked after properly and was in desperate need of the day-care service which the Balwadi provides. The instructor went to Ghanashyam’s house to talk to his mother, Bhuri, who was at first sceptical about leaving her child in the care of another person not from their family.

She gave excuses and avoided the Instructor, but he was determined that the child required appropriate care. After some persuasion, Ghanashyam was enrolled in the Balwadi in July, 2018. He was given fresh porridge with hot oil poured over it for extra nutrition and he receives a daily spoonful of iron supplement and six-monthly doses of Vitamin A.

When Ghanashyam enrolled in the Balwadi, he weighed 6.5 kg. In September 2018, after two months of regular care and nourishment, he weighed 7.5 kg. He is now in the ‘well-nourished’ category and his mother Bhuri is grateful that she decided to send her son to the Balwadi regularly so that he could become healthy and beat malnutrition.

It is due to generous support from friends like you Seva Mandir has been able to run these Balwadis. Currently 178 Balwadis are operational in tribal areas of southern Rajasthan reaching out to 5000 underprivileged children. A donation of $10 from you will help us in providing life saving nutritious meals to 1 child for 3 months. We look forward to your continued support.

Seva Mandir is delighted to congratulate long-time academic collaborators and supporters of its work, Professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, who have been awarded the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science ‘for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.'

Seva Mandir's research association with Abhijeet Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer began in 1996, you can find out more here https://bit.ly/2YUO9aJ.

Thank you again for your generosity in choosing to support our project.

Best Wishes

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team

Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir

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