Education & Healthcare for 1250 children in India

In the first three years of life, the foundations of physical and also of psychic health are laid. In these years, the child not only increases in size but passes through great transformations. This is the age in which language and movement develop. The child must be safeguarded in order that these activities may develop freely.

-          Maria Montessori

There was a lack of hygiene and proper nutrition for the children which caused many of the children to fall sick often and hence irregular to the pre schools. It was felt that there was a need to reiterate the importance of health for all children. Parents meetings were organized in order to conduct sessions on health, immunization and nutrition. Pictorial charts were prepared in order to enable the women (who were the main participants in these meetings) to connect and understand.

These meetings were conducted in 25 Centres where a number of the mothers attended them. Animated discussions were held around topics ranging from the need for clean surroundings in the pre schools as well as the homes. It was common to see the women cleaning the premises in front of their own houses and dump the rubbish in the drain or discreetly in front of the neighbour’s house. The way diseases spread and the importance of not only keeping one’s own home but the surrounding clean as well was understood by all the women. The lack of proper place and sanitation when it came to toilets was the reason for another animated discussion. The need of the children to be trained from the beginning to use the toilets properly was discussed. Lack of personal hygiene of the children was another persistent issue faced by the teachers and was discussed in detail with the mothers. Information on the most common diseases and the ways of spreading was shared. It was in this context that the need for vaccination and ensuring timely immunization of all children was emphasized upon.

Nutrition was another important and oft neglected topic. Though the mothers ensured that the children ate, attention was not paid to ‘what’ they ate. Many children were prone to snacking and eating unhealthy food. The mothers were given information on the kinds of nutrition required for the children and the ways it could be provided though the local food available and with just a little effort.

The meetings were found to be very useful by the mothers and slight changes are being observed by the teachers in the children when they come to the pre school in terms of their hygiene. The Centres are also found to be cleaner on being visited by the team of Prajayatna.