From Child Labour to College: Support Her Future

Vishal, 2 years old, lives in the village of Samanapur in Marashtra, India. His parents are casual day laborers on a nearby farm. The family is very poor and Viahal, his parents, his sister and three brothers all have to get by on their parents income of around £25 per month.

As a result of this Vishal’s mother did not have enough money to feed and care for him properly. Vishal was underweight and he was severely malnourished. The team know from experience that if children are not adequately cared for between the age of 0 – 4 that child is not likely to do well in school in later years. The team decided to enroll Vishal in their supplementary nutrition programmes.  

The team visited the family home to provide supplementary nutrition through foods such as spirulina. The project also referred Vishal’s case to the Integrated Child Development Services. The project workers  coached Vishal’s Mum in nutrition and hygiene practices. Though at first she did not listen to the team after many visits she began to trust their advice and started taking more interest in good child nutrition and hygiene.    

Now Vishal is doing well. He is no longer malnourished and is growing bigger and stronger as a result. He gets less colds and flus and his energy is improving. He now has a much better chance of doing well in school as his growing brain will have the nutrition it needs to develop. Many thanks to all the project supporters who helped make this happen.