Stories from the field
Eminent actor meets village volunteers
When it comes to taking on the challenges of life, rural youth seem to be more prepared than their urban counterparts despite their limited access to information and resources. This has been the experience of Swapneel Joshi, a well known young actor
Youth volunteers become elected representatives
Gram Panchayat (local governance) functioning in Birvali village, Latur district in Maharashtra state has undergone tremendous change. Today people’s views are taken into consideration and participatory decision making is followed as a principle.
Sustainable Sanitation
Pardi Village, Yavatmal, Maharashtra: A neatly framed citation hanging on Gram Panchayat walls in Pardi village announces village receiving ‘Nirmal Gram Puraskar’ on attaining full sanitation coverage in households, schools and Aanganwadi centers
Girls Show the Way
If you look for apparent signs of development in Tipeshwar village you are likely to be disappointed
Deepashikha programme attempts to break the cycle of oppression
Mukta has survived a double blow of child marriage and desertion at such a tender age. Living at present with her parents, Mukta is perhaps the living testimony of a disturbing reality that prevails in many rural areas of India. Two out of every ten girls
Village Health Planning creates demand for health services
The women had been deprived of health services and benefits meant for them for so long, that they had accepted the occasional complications and hygiene related problems arising out of home deliveries as part and package of their destiny
Inspiring initiatives by Meena Manch
The Manch is a forum of school girls, inspired by the animation series “Meena”, produced by UNICEF to promote the value and rights of the girl child.
Maharashtra adopts child-centered learning
Take a peep into Class I in Kavha village school in Latur district and you see children, sitting in groups, engrossed in looking at picture cards in their hands and sharing with each other what they see in those cards.
Overcoming Under Nutrition
Everybody from Salgara Primary Health Center in Osmanabad district knows the story of Karan, a beaming two year old in the village. They have not only witnessed his growth from being severely underweight at birth to a healthy child by now.
Meena helps in improving attendance of girls in schools
Panchafula Khandare, an illiterate woman from Parbhani district, Maharashtra, is a daily wage labourer. She travels wherever her work takes her, her young daughter in tow.
Restoring a normal childhood
Raju (name changed) is delighted with the idea of joining a new school from this academic year. His grandmother is equally happy that he is enrolled in an English medium school. She wants to educate her grandchild as best as his mother, who died of AIDS.
Importance of Breast Feeding
Four months old Nisha was the center of attraction for the women’s meeting held in Sarola village.
From holding knives to wielding pencils
From slaughter houses to classrooms, from holding knives to wielding pencils, from fear to hope. The children of the Qureshi community in Parbhani, a region 200 kms east of Aurangabad district in Maharashtra, have come a long way.
Fighting child labour in cotton mills
Mohammad Hasan, a lean and tall teenager from a slum in India’s commercial capital, Mumbai, sports a cheery smile. He exudes a mix of confidence and exuberance suitable to his age.
Youth groups focus on birth registration in Maharashtra
Chandrapur, Maharashtra: Community awareness, generated through the Village Planning Process initiated by UNICEF together with Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra is yielding results.
Ensuring safe motherhood
Renuka Giri’s working day begins quite early in the morning. This young and motivated ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) in Dhanora village health center in Latur, Maharashtra leaves for her daily round of home visits at around 8 am.
Mother support groups promote nutrition in Maharashtra
The small group of women huddled with their young babies at the Anganwadi Centre are listening intently to Durga Gavit, as her four month old son Prashant sleeps comfortably in her lap.
Community action against child marriages
The village micro-planning process initiated by UNICEF in partnership with HALO Foundation (NGO Partner), in the villages of Lohara block, Osmanabad district of Maharashtra identified child marriage as one of the critical problems in the area.
Making Every Child Count
Usha Sakat, an Aanganwadi Worker in Honala village in Osmanabad district of the state of Maharashtra, proudly recalls how she succeeded in improving the health of an underweight newborn baby girl in her village.
Quality education package produces better results in Maharashtra schools
Avian Flu in India - Government seeks UNICEF assistance for medicines
Amidst continuing culling operations, the Maharashtra government asked UNICEF to supply additional stock of 50,000 tablets of Tamiflu in its preparedness efforts to combat possible human infection.
