End Hunger for Rural Families in Bangladesh
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Updates from the Field:
Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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Index of Updates from the Field
September 2008 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Coordinator of Programs, September 04, 2008 06:34 PM
A total of 294 group members of SATU have received 1 or 2 microcredit loans in this past year. With support of IDEX, SATU provided microcredit to 130 members. Subsequently, 164 members received microcredit through the groups’ internal savings generation fund.
Of the 294 members, 267 members paid their loans in advance of the due date and requested second loans. As a result, a total of 561 microcredits or $25,264 was in circulation in this grant period.
Income generation activities included:
• 152 microcredit loans given for vegetable cultivation
• 104 microcredit loans to develop for small businesses – grocery shops, vegetable sales, tea stalls, bamboo basket selling, firewood sales
• 86 microcredit loans for handicrafts – bamboo and cane work, pottery, mat confection
• 67 microcredit loans for poultry-rearing
• 103 microcredit loans to purchase rickshaw or rickshaw vans
• 49 microcredit loans for sewing and tailoring businesses
June 2008 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Coordinator of Programs, IDEX, June 04, 2008 10:08 PM
In last year’s progress report of May 2007, SATU reported on the support of a Medical Assistant to improve health checkups on pregnant mothers and children. This year, SATU is reporting a training that the Medical Assistant, together with SATU’s Project Officer, organized to conduct a 3-day training course on Mother and Child Healthcare to 25 pregnant women.
As a result of this training, the 25 participants can do the following:
• explain about the importance of personal and environmental hygiene
• describe the activities of maintaining personal and environmental hygiene
• clarify the meaning of food & nutrition and food elements
• express the importance of food value and food compositions
• demonstrate the balanced food preparation
• explicate the significant results of family planning including birth spacing and control
• identify risks during pregnancy and describe the importance of Anti-natal care
• identify the negative consequences (exists) and risks of delivery and explain the importance of post-natal care and safe motherhood
• express the importance and techniques of a new born baby care, food and breast feeding especially colostrums
• Importance of Mother & Child Vaccination
In the past year, the Medical Assistant identified 162 pregnant mothers through door-to-door visit. Among them, four pregnant mothers were referred to the Government Hospital due to complications at birth. If it wasn’t for the support of the Medical Assistant, these pregnant mothers would not have gone to the hospital in time for a health checkup to address their case.
March 2008 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Program Coordinator, IDEX, March 06, 2008 06:01 PM
Bishnu Rani lives in Trimohon village of the Tangail district in Bangladesh. She is the eldest of five children in her family. Bishnu’s father had a hard time bringing income to the family so education was just a dream to Bishnu and her siblings.
Bishnu recalls her past days:
“We had to spend days either without food or half-fed. My father became suddenly ill. He was the only family member earning income. My mother became helpless and tensed. The pecuniary state of our family became acute. In this situation, I could not stand and do nothing, as the eldest child of the family. I started to seek solutions to our situation.”
Bishnu learned how to make baskets by using cane and bamboo sticks. She felt proud of her acquired skill and as a result became more confident. At the time, her income covered her lunch and but eventually the man who taught her this skill paid her an allowance to continue to work for him.
In time Bishnu got married to Krishna Das (the basket weaver who trained her) and within five years she had three children. It became difficult to Bishnu to support her family with the small income her husband was making. She heard about a self-help group (SHG) meeting near her home and asked permission to join the meeting. Bishnu found the discussions in the meeting interesting and saw that there were opportunities to generate income and decided to join the SHG.
She thought she could use her skills in cane and bamboo work to start a small business with the help of a microcredit from the SHG’s loan fund. She received a microcredit of US$80 and started making baskets and selling them at the local market. After repaying her loan in full, she took a second loan of US$170 and established a grocery store near her home. She now is a grocery shop owner and enjoys making cane and bamboo products in her free time. She makes a good profit from her business and as a result, can now purchase food for her family and at the same time, save money with the support of her SHG.
Attachments:
December 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Coordinator of Programs, December 13, 2007 06:26 PM
In Tangail, most of the babies are born underweight due to the poor health status of the mothers. Women in this area are mainly focused on providing food security for their families that when they become pregnant they tend to neglect their own healthcare. It is not uncommon to see pregnant mothers working from dawn to late night at domestic chores, weaving or working in agriculture.
During pregnancy, women’s immune system becomes less effective, which allows pregnant women to become more susceptible to illnesses than normal. To promote pregnancy healthcare, SATU organized a 3-day workshop on mother and child healthcare for 50 pregnant mothers. In these workshops the expectant mothers received broad information about staying healthy during pregnancy, particularly in eating appropriately to ensure baby’s health when born.
The workshops also included information on postnatal care, so that the women continue to look after their own after they have had their baby. In this way, new mothers can be better caregivers by staying healthy while taking care of their children’s health.
October 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Programs Coordinator, October 11, 2007 08:29 PM
SATU provided a three-day workshop on vegetable cultivation for 25 women in the following themes:
• Prepare seed bed
• Seed selection process
• Quality of good seeds
• Land selection
• Use of pesticides
• Preparation of compost
• Integrated pest management
• Time selection of harvesting
• Inter cultural operation
• Irrigation
To complement this, another three-day workshop was also provided on nutritional improvement.
From this training, the group members had become more aware and developed improved agricultural skills. They have gathered up to date knowledge and skills on vegetable cultivation. As a result their food production is higher and the group members are able to sell excess vegetables at market thereby increasing the nutrition level and income of their family.
Group members have specifically been able to focus on deficiencies in the diet of the pregnant women and their children by encouraging them to consume green vegetables. Again this was as a result of the training they have received which highlighted this problem and offered a valid solution, as well as methods on how to prepare food so as to preserve the nutritional qualities.
May 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Asia Program Director, IDEX, May 18, 2007 01:32 PM
130 group members were given access to credit for income-generating activities such as vegetable cultivation, small trade, handicrafts and poultry-raising. Through these income-generating projects, the group members have succeeded to increase their income and thus, have access to high-nutritional food. Once they receive the credit, the group members are cultivating vegetables to then sell in the local market. They also cultivate for family consumption to reduce the nutritional deficiency that exists in their household.
SATU hired a Medical Assistant to provide medical support to 130 pregnant mothers and 130 children to improve their health condition. The Medical Assistant checks the health of the pregnant women and their children regularly, recording height, weight etc. to assess their nutritional status. A total of 65 mothers gave birth in the local government hospital without any complication. 9 mothers had complications but were given proper care and recovered well. The Medical Assistant has provided support to children with cases of diarrhea, dysentery, worms, malnutrition, fever, and measles.
March Update
By Katherine Zavala - Asia program Director, March 26, 2007 05:42 PM
SATU has mobilized 15 old groups of 450 members and organized 19 new groups of 475 members to generate a savings fund and have regular meetings to solve local community problems. SATU is working on increasing social awareness for community members to know about their access to local resources and production and in this way, they have engaged a total of 34 groups with 925 members.
Through this coordination, fraternity and solidarity have been raised. They have been sitting and meeting in a particular place close to their houses and discussing about their family crisis and having conversations about solving those. The field workers talk regularly about nutrition and care of pregnant mother and child among other issues.
SATU has provided training to 75 group members on vegetable cultivation, nutritional improvement and mother and child health care. With this training, group members are producing vegetables for family consumption and to sell in the local market. Mothers are more aware of their children’s nutritional care and offer proper treatment to them. The pregnant mothers are taking their rest after every meal and after a day’s work.
December 2006 Progress Report
By Katherine Zavala - Asia Program Director, IDEX, December 22, 2006 09:36 AM
Project Update
• 28 group members have the capacity to process the basic necessities to provide to their family.
• 32 group members have received training in nutrition and have learned to consume good quality food as well as to take the necessary steps towards improving family members’ health.
• 41 group members have learned about keeping a healthy and active life as pregnant mothers and as caregivers of their children. This will help decrease the child mortality rate in the area and ensure a safe motherhood for the women.
• 13 group members are managing income-generating activities, which have increased their household income.
• 22 group members are currently producing high-quality food in the area.
• 35 group members are managing small businesses.
• 10 group members are producing high-quality food for the local market.
• 15 group members are growing vegetables in their premises to sell in the local market as well for their own family consumption.
• Pregnant mothers & children up to the age of five are having access to medicines, and in this way, common diseases are decreasing.
• Water-borne diseases are gradually reducing.
• By observing these impacts, other group members have become encouraged to also learn how to produce high-quality food, and obtain knowledge on health issues.
Project Outcomes
• Under this project, 40 groups with a total of 1,200 people have been organized.
• 40 group members have received food-processing training
• 60 group members have learned about mother & child health care.
• 30 group members have received business skills training.
• 40 group members have started food production as a source of income generation.
• 50 group members have initiated small businesses.
SATU is planning to discuss with the project beneficiaries about the project success in their upcoming group meetings. In some cases, SATU will organize workshops and seminars to share this information. In addition, SATU will record this discussion by including a chapter about this project in their annual report.
SATU Update APril 2006
By Balu Iyer - Asia Program Director, IDEX, April 07, 2006 11:31 AM
Activities carried out
Group formation
SATU formed 46 women’s groups in 20 villages, with a total of 1,040 members. The members were selected from extremely poor, small, and marginal households. SATU made regular visit to the groups and members to discuss the changes that were taking place. They found that in many instance the groups were convening their own meetings, discussing and taking action on issues affecting the members, and participating actively in the credit program. Some group leaders were taking an active part in the local government activities.
Training on capacity-building
Training and awareness building are key components of SATU’s projects. The training programs were organized to build on the skills of women and farmers and served 300 women. SATU provided training on vegetable cultivation, crop diversification, land use, integrated pest management , food preservation, and fish cultivation. After receiving training, the participants reflected on what they had learned at the group meetings.
Income generating activities
90 women were provided credit to carry out income generation activities and help them take steps out of poverty. The activities included food processing and vegetable garden, small trade, and poultry rearing. The credit amount ranged from $50 to $100. The credit was available through grants made this year and from the revolving fund (principal and interest repaid from earlier loans). The repayment rate is around 98%.
Women in small trade small trade, bakery, and grocery are making profits of 50% from their small business. Tangail is a commercial town with high traffic flow, women can sell their wares quickly and on a regular basis.
Mother and child health
To date SATU’s has monitored the health status of 150 pregnant women and 150 infants. A trained nurse conducts regular health counseling and treats minor ailments. The nurse and group leaders ensure that the women and infant maintain healthy diets and adhere to their immunization schedules. The crux of this program is to educate women about food quality and balanced diet preparation.
In an informal survey, SATU found that, “Awareness about health has increased among the group members and there is less blind observance to religious beliefs and superstitious practices. The door step medical facilities and health check-up of pregnant women is helping to ensure safe motherhood and in reducing incidence of child mortality.”
The group members put into practice what they learn in the meetings. For example pregnant women are more conscious about their diet and try to include meat, milk, and vegetables. They also make sure that they get sufficient rest after completing their daily household work.
The women are careful in preparing meals. They wash the vegetables thoroughly before cutting and cooking. They do not cook vegetables for a long time so as to not lose the protein content. After cooking they preserve the food in a safe place and cover it to protect it from flies & other insects.
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