Help mothers and children of the Chepang community, a disadvantaged ethnic group in rural Nepal. We work in partnership with the people of the Chepang community to enable women to take control of the their health and access services to provide a safe and healthy start in life for their children. Providing knowledge about choices and a care box to new mothers with simple items like sanitary napkins and folic acid can transform the lives of new mothers in rural Nepal.
Chepang is an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal, with almost 90% of its population living below the poverty line. Over half of Chepang girls get married between the ages of 12 & 15 and child marriage traps young women in a cycle of poverty, ill health and low socioeconomic status. Without access to knowledge, young mothers struggle to stay healthy during pregnancy with poor diets and no healthcare support. After childbirth, very young mothers need support and advice on access to health services.
We will work in the partnership with community women, mothers and their families to improve their knowledge on the importance of the nutrition, prenatal postnatal checkups and institutional delivery. We will also support pregnant women with maternal & child care package including folic acid and iron tablet (to prevent anemia), mosquito net (to prevent malaria, dengue and zika virus) and sanitary pads which can transform the experience of pregnancy and childbirth by improving care and comfort.
These simple and inexpensive interventions will allow Chepang women to regain their life and dignity during pregnancy and after delivery. This will help improve maternal and child health by increasing utilization of health services, encourage people to receive appropriate support when needed and adopt healthier lifestyles during pregnancy and after delivery. Seeding knowledge has a transformative ripple-effect impact in such remote communities, by being passed on between women across generation.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
