Seema and Sanju

Sisters-in-law in the village of Barjor Khera, Seema (left) and Sanju eagerly joined the meetings of the Community Empowerment Lab, known as Saksham, the Hindi word for empowerment.

Seema and Sanju

Saksham focused on reducing the region’s high infant mortality rate by changing behaviors and practices in the 1,000 Days. Like immediate breastfeeding after birth, a change from traditional practice which demanded that the first breast milk, with the antibodies-rich colostrum, be discarded.

Seema and Sanju

Saksham’s work in the communities cut the infant mortality rate in half, as moms like Seema and Sanju adopted the new practices.

Sushma

In the village of Rampur Khas, Sushma was an early adopter of the changes promoted by Saksham. It was her mother-in-law who needed more convincing; she insisted that there was nothing wrong with the old ways. She relented, though, when she noticed the improved health of her grandchildren.

Sushma

Saksham taught Sushma the importance of getting good rest during pregnancy and eating proper foods containing vital vitamins and nutrients. And it stressed the necessity of giving birth in a clinic or hospital and bringing a clean blade to cut the umbilical cord. Infection from unsanitary conditions was a major threat to newborns. Sushma’s son Sunny was her third child born after Saksham entered her village.

Sushma

As Sunny turned two, Sushma wished for a good education for him. It was a universal aspiration of moms.

Shyamkali

Shyamkali was already the mother of four children – all girls – when she traveled via bicycle rickshaw to the little birthing clinic near her village of Pure Baishan to deliver her fifth child.

Shyamkali

She prayed dearly that this one –finally– would be a boy, which was the desire of most every family in India. Alas, she gave birth to her fifth daughter, Anshika. Together, they spent two weeks in ‘confinement’ in one room of their tiny house, in accordance with a traditional purification ritual meant to protect the newborn from evil spirits.

Shyamkali

While she nurtured Anshika’s growth, Shyamkali knew that as her family grew they would all become more impoverished. The desire to have a son had stretched the ability of her and her husband to adequately feed, educate and clothe their children. Shyamkali declared that Anshika would be her last child.

Shyamkali

Shyamkali’s husband, Rajender, accepted whatever work he could find in order to provide for his family. On Anshika’s second birthday, a day the temperature soared past 100 degrees, Rajender hauled coal to fuel a brick-making kiln.

Shyamkali

Later in the afternoon of Anshika’s second birthday, Rajender put down his yoke and joined his family. As his daughters gathered around him, Rajender proudly said, “My girls are healthy, and strong. And they are beautiful.”