Stories
Nutrition
Shamima's Story: Learning and Continuing PD Practices
Shamima is the sixth child of Kohinoor Bibi & Kuddus Sheikh. She is the first girl child of her mother. She was very ill when she joined the first NCCS on March 2002. At that time she looked very tired, gloomy, and sick. Her hair color was grey and she was reluctant to eat food. But Kohinoor Bibi tried her best to do good for the child and she continued to attend the sessions. After 3 / 4 months, a health checkup was initiated at Mirzapur by the medical officer from BPHC, and he suggested taking admission at the hospital with Shamima.
Kohinoor Bibi hesitated to take admission at hospital because of her younger children in the family; but the other family members – her Mother-in-law, Sister-in-law and her husband - supported her to stay at the hospital with Shamima.
Shamima was in the hospital for 10 days. After 10 days, Kohinoor came back with Shimima and she continued NCCS. Then Shamima started to like khichri at the session. Kohinoor bibi also maintained the good practices-washing hands before eating, defecation in proper place and she started to increase the amount of food for Shamima and gradually Shamima became well. Shamima's father took initiative to set up sanitary latrine at the adjacent place of their house and both the parents tried their best to promote good practices in the family and they applied all the good practices for their next child.
Akasi's Story
Akasi Devi‘s household has 8 family members. She has 6 children: 3 sons and 3 daughters. They live in a compound with 3 other families. The area is very clean and the mother looks engaging and self-confident. She wears a clean Sari and her hands are clean. The members of the compound gather to listen and contribute to the conversation between the visitors and Akasi Devi.
Nearby sits Shatrungun, a chubby 3 ½ year old boy. After the initial shyness in front of strangers, he becomes alert and talks profusely and excitedly and interacts with them. Akasi explained that about 1one year ago her son was very weak. “He was at death's door,” explains the neighbor. He was constantly sick and had no appetite. He was very thin and could not walk, although he was over 2 years old.
The mother said that it took a year for her child to move from red to orange, (severe to moderate malnutrition status), as she shows on his growth chart, and for him to finally start walking. It took another few months for him to graduate from the nutrition program. She has single-handedly continued his rehabilitation and her child has put on 1 ½ kilo in the last 2 months alone, and is now enjoying normal nutritional status (the green color). She said her child is pleasant and active now.
When asked what she does now that she did not do before, Akasi Devi said that before she did not feed the child if he had no appetite, she also did not feed him a variety of food. Now she feeds him more frequently and a variety of food such as bringil (eggplant), snails, cauliflower, and some fruits, such as papaya or mangoes when they are in season.
Yesterday she fed her child 4 times and also provided a snack. Breakfast was left-over from the day before, and lunch consisted of rice and curry (bringil and potatoes) with a tablespoon of mustard oil. Males do not eat first in their household. In the afternoon, she fed the child leftovers from lunch, and the evening meal was cauliflower, potato, and rice.
During the hour we spent with this family the child was given two snacks: millet roti and sugar cane molasses on a bamboo stick and even snails, which will be part of their dinner (2-3 rupees for ½ a kilo). He ate constantly, asking for more.
Akasi Dei also reported taking a bath every day herself, as well as giving a bath to her child every day, which she did not do before. Her husband felt hopeless about the child before, and now is more interested in the child and shows some affection towards him.
Akasi Devi is very proud of her achievements. Many neighboring mothers have come to her to ask how it was possible for the child to be so healthy. She dispenses advice especially about hygiene and feeding the child even when he does not ask for food. She encourages them to follow her example.
Riziki's Story: PD Hearth/Mariani in Kenya
Anita's Story: Succeeding Nutritionally Despite Resource Constraint
What positive practices can we learn from Anita?
Anita allowed Veermati to suckle completely from one breast and in the next feed used the other breast. In the scorching heat, she would wet Veermati's lips occasionally with water. Besides this, she was breastfeeding her exclusively 8-10 times a day. Anita proposed to initiate complementary foods when Veermati completed 5 months. When either baby fell ill, she would tell her husband to take them to the doctor on the same day. While talking to me, Anita's visual focus remained with Veermati. As Veermati whimpered, Anita put her to breast, rocked and comforted her. Anita had learned these practices from her mother-in-law, who emphasized that these practices would make the baby healthy and chubby. Anita received support from her mother-in-law and husband in household chores and was involved in decisions regarding her and her children. Both Anita and her mother-in-law aspired for Veermati to become a doctor.
Anita and Mother-in-law willing to be peer counselors
"Are you willing to teach these positive practices to others?" I asked. "Yes, if my mother-in-law agrees," Anita replied. Anita's mother-in-law enthusiastically gave her consent and was eager to accompany Anita in such a forum.
This case narrative points out that a) people can succeed nutritionally despite resource constraints; b) it's valuable to learn behavior from these nutritionally successful families whose positive child-care attributes contribute toward better nutritional status of their infants; and c) PDs are willing to share the secrets of their success to help other families to take better care of their infants.
PD Quotes from the Field
“PD is like a flashlight. It helps to shine light and illuminate what hides behind the darkness. It helps us discover what already exists. For example, it helps us discover our existing strengths we had not realized or utilized.”
~a kader, Kedoyo, Indonesia
“The PD approach is like digging with a hoe. One needs to turn the soil over to see what lies hidden and buried beneath. Then the land is ready to plant new crops.”
~Raymond, community leader in Pader District, Indonesia