Kalashi happy to see her babies healthy

Kalashi Pal lives in Manmateriya Village Development Committee, Rupandehi district (Butwal ADP). She has twin sons - Ram and Laxman who are three and a half years old. They are the youngest children in the family. Kalashi has two other sons and two other daughters who are older than the twins. Even though she is a mother of six children, Kalashi was relatively unaware of nutritional food and child development.

When World Vision staff first visited her home both of her twin sons were malnourished. At a year and a half, Ram was 6kgs and Laxman was 7kgs and Kalashi was worried about their health. Still breastfeeding at that time, Kalashi says her milk was not enough to quench their hunger so she had to buy milk from the shop to supplement their diet. With a total of nine people in her home, including her husband and father-in-law, Kalashi remembers that there were times when she could not afford to buy milk for her sons.

Kalashi’s husband is a carpenter and whenever she gets time she goes out to work as a labourer on construction sites or on farms. Having to care for her twins, she could not work so she had to depend on what her husband earned to provide for the family. Poverty and the added responsibility of the twins worried her.

Krishna Bhattarai, a community nutrition facilitator at Terai Development Forum, a local partner of World Vision, visited Kalashi’s home to see the children. Seeing how poor they were, Krishna gave Kalashi some instruction about the children’s health and the importance of nutrition, along with growth monitoring. She also suggested that she bring them regularly for growth monitoring and gave them super flour as a supplementary diet.

Before World Vision intervened, Kalashi was unaware of health facilities and the care that should be taken during pregnancy. All her elder children were born at home. She had given birth to Ram at home and when she could not get out of labour pain she was taken to LumbiniHospital. Only there did she realise she was pregnant with twins and gave birth to Laxman. Though she had taken all the vaccines she should have during pregnancy, she had not gone for any check-ups because she could not afford to.

“I have learned so many things regarding nutrition from the orientations. I have realised that due to healthy food and hygiene my children get less sick than my elder children. I wish I had got the opportunity to know about these useful and important tips before, so that I could have provided my older children with nutritious food, as they were also quite small during birth,” Kalashi says.

Since her meeting with Krishna, Kalashi followed all Krishna’s suggestions.

“When I came to see the children they were severely malnourished and their economic condition was very poor. There are many members in the family. When I gave orientations Kalashi was unaware of even simple things like nutritious food, how to cook them and prepare them. Now she has learned it and complied in her day-to-day life. Her interest in learning and practicing what she has learned has made her children healthier,” Krishna says.

Kalashi admits that she used to make mistakes on how she fed her children. She shares that she did not even know about the importance of iodised salt, a balanced diet, how to prepare green vegetables, and, most importantly, about super flour and how to prepare it.

“If I had known about nutritious food and its importance during pregnancy, and about my twins’ pregnancy maybe I would have taken better care of myself and babies. I do not want other women in my community to go through what I have been through, so whatever I have learned and know I share these with my neighbours and my community,” Kalashi says.

Kalashi’s sons have been monitored for the last two years. The condition of both the boys has improved. Ram and Laxman’s weight is monitored every month and World Vision continues to give Kalashi super flour. “Though they are over (older than) two years, we have been monitoring them and supporting them considering their poor economic condition and the need of children,” Krishna says.

Now, Ram is 12.5kg and Laxman is 14kg. Ram is still improving while Laxman is now much healthier. Seeing her children well-nourished and healthy, Kalashi is very happy.

The Global Week of Action for Child Health Now will be held from 13 to 20 November. World Vision needs every leader to not only participate, but to influence staff to join the global mobilisation to call on world leaders to meet the commitments they have made to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health (Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5). Please say ‘Count Me In – I want Children to Survive 5!’ For more details on how to be involved in this campaign, please visit http://www.childhealthnow.org/.