Monsooned, Fortified, and Content

Although Nicole has already left, the remaining 3 of us embarked on a final project for the summer last week. Blaire, Britt and I (Sarah) traveled to Udaipur to run some program evaluations of the NGO, Seva Mandir. We spent 3 days viewing their programs and interviewing staff. It was an extremely informative visit. Seva Mandir runs numerous programs parallel to those orchestrated by the JMC, GRC, and New Concept; however, these programs are conducted in a primarily rural setting in the blocks neighboring the city itself.

One interesting program they run is called the Bal Wari Program. This program is designed similarly to the anganwadi centers. One difference is that it keeps children all day to allow the parents to work in the fields. Secondly, it provides multiple meals to the children. Lastly, it works closely with the other health programs run by Seva Mandir to guarantee basic levels of health for all children. This program really highlighted some of the deficiencies we had observed this summer in the anganwadis of south Delhi and revealed options for future service enhancement.

A second program we enjoyed learning about is their iron folate fortification program. Seva Mandir has supplied the machinery and taught many of the millers in the 5 blocks they work in to fortify all flour products with iron and folic acid. The fortification mixture is provided free of charge. Seva Mandir also held taste samplings in the village to prove the mixtures quality. This program will enable the villagers to reduce incidence of anemia and improve development and is very effective. We were very happy to hear that many biscuit manufacturers and other food manufacturers are also implementing iron fortification in certain foods nationwide.

Overall, we were truly impressed with Seva Mandir. The organization was well run, effective and trusted. With gorgeous landscape and monsoon rains to impress anyone and organizations like Seva Mandir, Udaipur will remain a rich example of effective health programming in rural settings for us in the future.

With fond memories of the City of Lakes,

Sarah