Ashirvad Child Development Centres
“Ashirvad’ & ‘Pragathi’ are the 2 Child Development Centres in Gotlam and Garudabilli villages respectively. A total of 670 children are registered in these 2 centres. These children live at home along with their families, attend local school and spend two hours each day at the centre after the school.”
Child Development Centres are designed to promote physical, cognitive, socio-emotional and spiritual development of the underprivileged children.
All children receive one meal in a day at the centre after their study time in the evening. In addition, selected children receive daily egg and milk. All children are provided with de-worming medication. .Awareness programs on common health related problems, nutrition and personal hygiene were conducted for adolescent girls.
Regular health screening camps are organized for children of all age groups. All children undergone master health checkup (MHC) which include growth monitoring and hemoglobin level each year. Most children are healthy and do not require any intervention. Among the few, anemia, underweight and infections are the common health problems seen.
25 children who had stepped into college ( pre university) level in 2014.
Child Survival Program
Early intervention through provision of nutrition, prevention of disease and access to good quality health care play key role in the overall growth and development of the child. Child Survival Program was designed to provide these services to the most vulnerable village mothers.
All these mothers were monitored during pregnancy and are provided with weekly supplementary nutrition, regular antenatal checkups and prepared for safe delivery. The mothers are taught to care for their new born, encouraged to breast feed and vaccinate the children according the schedule.
Awareness programs are conducted on the importance of balanced diet. Mothers are provided with information on the nutritive value of naturally available foods. They are also taught on the importance of hand washing and keeping their surroundings clean. Income generation programs help mothers earn money which will supplement the family income. They are taught basic concepts on saving.
All the activities of CSP are designed to provide physical, cognitive, socio-emotional and spiritual development of the children. Once they reach 5 yrs, these children are upgraded to child development program.