We crossed our target of training 400 new health activists in 2009 by November. December trainees will be an added bonus. Over 1,000 women have attended training sessions in 2009 and 412 have been designated as health activists. We have loftier targets for 2010.

We have expanded to a new district. Our team of trainers went to Babina, Jhansi and trained over 20 women. We are attempting to replicate our program there. We will also launch our program in Azamgarh on 6th January, 2010. Starting this month we are for the first time expanding our work to another state, Karnataka. Our trainers will conduct their first training in Chikbalapur, Karnataka. Our training books are currently being translated into Kannada. Mr Kamalkar Hallambi, Ex-Director of the Rural Literacy Mission of Karnataka will lead this program.

We are evolving into a health literacy organization with maternal mortality as our entry point into a community. Recognizing our potential to promote health literacy, our program is getting noticed. The Ministry of Health has asked us to participate in a national health literacy program through a national health portal.  The Ministry of Health will own and manage the portal with private-public partnership. We have already started on this project and in the next few months we will see the launch of the national program to spread health literacy.

So, you read the newsletter, bought the T-shirt, and came to the fund-raiser… but you feel as if you could do so much more to help your charity of choice! I was in your shoes over two years ago, when the usual avenues of giving back to my community were simply not enough. That’s when I decided to create my own website so that I may be able to attract attention and funding, inspire similarly-minded individuals, and ultimately help a great cause. Starting a website can be a wonderful experience of self-discovery and personal growth, but as I learned very early on, you have to venture out of your comfort zone to really get what you want. Before you dive into your mission of saving the world through online activism, you should get familiar with the following rules:

1.  Terminology and Languages: Learn to understand both the terminology and programming languages (at least to some extent) so that you may be able to perform maintenance without seeking professional help. As a rule of thumb, you want to be comfortable with the use of HTML tags. Other languages that are common for start-up websites are CSS, PHP, and Java.
2. Hosting: Find hosting that best reflects your space needs and financial situation. A web host is a server where your website’s directories, files, graphics, etc. reside. Should you go with paid or free hosting? This depends largely on how media-rich you plan to make the site. Are you going to be including a lot of high-resolution images, videos, music? Remember, only get as much space as you know you need.
3. Site Name: Choose a specific name that reflects your purpose, or perhaps a name that has a special meaning to you. The goal here is to create a relevant and consistent message for your users, as well as to make your site easily indexable on the major search engines.
4. Organization: Use a seamless and intuitive layout with a clear indication of the main areas of your site. Generally, it’s important to include an About page and a Contact page, so that your users are not confused by your intentions or validity.

 The above tips are fairly simple to follow, but are guaranteed to save you the headache down the road. If you are ready to become an online activist through starting your own awareness site, take the time to learn and understand the necessary components of such an undertaking. Be patient and you will succeed!

Mariya Nikiforova is an SEM specialist with isoTree LLC, a search engine marketing and consulting firm. Mariya is passionate about non-profit work, and participates in her community through various organizations and activities, such as Habitat for Humanity, YMCA Adult Basic Literacy Education, and an awareness website she started 2 years ago, called PledgeForMoms.org. The website is tailored to encourage the online community to take part in raising awareness about maternal mortality, gender inequality, and the suffering of girls and women across the globe.

Birth weight is affected by weight gain during pregnancy. Weight should be gained throughout pregnancy but is most critical in the second trimester. Even if overall weight gain is poor, birth weight is usually acceptable with appropriate second-trimester weight gain. Women who are underweight are advised to gain a total of 12.5-18 kg. This translates to 0.5 kg/wk in the second and third trimesters. Women of normal weight are advised to gain a total of 11.5-16 kg (25-35 lb), or 0.4 kg/wk, in the second and third trimesters. Women who are overweight or obese should limit their weight gain to 7-11.5 kg (15-25 lb), or 0.3 kg/wk, in the second and third trimesters. The demands of pregnancy necessitate additional dietary requirements. Obviously, additional caloric intake is required to support recommended weight gain. Because energy requirements in pregnancy are increased by 17% over the non-pregnant state, a woman of normal weight should consume an additional 300 calories a day of high nutrient density. Nutrient density reflects the amount of protein, vitamins, and minerals per 100 calories of food. Protein should comprise 20% of a normal pregnancy diet. Pregnant women should be aware that many animal sources of protein are very high in fat and might contribute to excessive weight gain; therefore, animal proteins should be taken sparingly. Fat should only comprise 30% of a normal pregnancy diet. Carbohydrates should comprise the remaining 50%. Total energy intake should vary by BMI, but the average recommendation is 2500 calories per day.

Several minerals and vitamins are of critical importance and dosages must be increased during pregnancy. These include Vitamin A, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-6, B12, C, D, E, K, folate, niacin, iron, phosphorous, calcium, and zinc. Folate is of particular importance. A well rounded diet should cover all dietary needs but a vitamin supplement is recommended.

In India, of particular interest is the vegetarian diet. Well-balanced vegetarian diets that include dairy products provide adequate energy and nutrient intake and do not require special supplementation. However, vegan diets may be deficient in vitamins D and B-12. It may also be extremely low in fat, making satisfaction of energy requirements a challenge. Pregnant women who follow vegan diets require supplemental vitamin D, and vitamin B-12. These women also have to pay careful attention to energy intake.

In lower socio-economic regions, there are several steps that are being taken and can be taken to combat poor maternal nutrition. Education is one of the most important components. Teaching women what foods need to be eaten as well as the proper quantity needed to be consumed. Also, providing food to women who do not have access to fresh food needs to be done. Also of critical importance is providing women with necessary supplements such as folate and iron.

Varun Renjen is a physician who has been in cancer research. He is now moving on to medical strategy. He is based in New York and is a Save A Mother volunteer.

Photo taken by Save A Mother staff.

Solution: From polio to HIV, cell phones are playing an important role in Zambia’s child health strategies. Check out this link to learn more.

 

One of our objectives in 2009 is to expand to another district. We conducted our first survey of Phoolpur in Uttar Pradesh to understand local need. Even though membership of the local NGO is not large, we will start a small pilot program. Our program manager Anoop Pant and I will visit the area to start the program at the end of November.

Anoop Pant will also attend a training program in Lucknow, conducted by PATH – an international NGO. Subsequently, he will become a master trainer for ASHA workers of the National Rural Health Mission. This will bring us even closer to the public health workers in our area, with whom we already have a working relationship. We will supplement the public health programs sponsored by the government.

Solution: Changing the lives of women and girls in the developing world can change everything. The empowerment of women could help solve many of the world’s problems, from poverty to child mortality to terrorism. Click on the link below to read how – contributed by Hemant Kashyap

Which got me to wonder why do we get involved? Usually, we can relate to the cause in some way, but, for me, as a lawyer, it’s because I can see the results. I believe that in tough times like this while each of us have a limited amount of capital to invest in the things that interest us, the organization or cause that shows tangible results will succeed more rapidly than the one based on good intentions or slick marketing.

I chose to get involved in the Save a Mother cause not just because of the passion of its founder and some members, but because of its budding use of social media. Before you snidely think “oh so because they are on Facebook/Twitter, you joined?,” let me clarify. To me, it represented several things that most well meaning organizations consistently fail to do.

Transparency: Anytime, anyone actively becomes part of a media that is built on communication, information, and community it is forward thinking and showing a willingness to be an actor in that world rather than just soliciting. Don’t get me wrong, creating a profile can be done by any 14 year old (case in point, my nieces), however participating, disseminating information, and laying it out for all to see shows great faith, trust, and confidence in what the organization stands for.

Viral Marketing: the greatest promise of social media is its ability to connect others with similar interests anywhere across the world. It is as, author Malcolm Gladwell stated, a great “flattener.” In a sense, social media marketing is about giving your fans a platform to talk about you in a positive way – something Facebook makes seamless. If a fan of your Facebook business page decides to comment on something you’ve posted, their friends will see that action in their news feed. If your fans mark a photo as something that they “like” then their friends will see that, likewise, if they sign up to attend an event by sending in their RSVP, it shows up for all of their friends to see. In this way, Facebook can make any content viral.

Participation: Any community is only as good as its communication. If you only talk about yourself, and do not interact with others, you are guaranteeing very few followers and worse, a push back into the closet mentality. Everyone can speak, but what’s important is what you are adding to the conversation. Using social media is an opportunity to grow, and that expansion can only happen if people like you, and want to hear from you. That occurs only when it’s a 2 way conversation. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then social media is not for you.

Examples: So you signed up, you are ready to make change happen in the world, but you are not exactly sure what to do. I have always believed that copying is the sincerest form of flattery, and my initial research took me to http://www.gauravonomics.com/ , a great resource on using social media to create social change in India.

Perhaps the best example that’s stuck with me was this: On April 14, 2009 actor Hugh Jackman pledged to give AUS $100,000 to the charity that could best convince him, via Twitter, that it was deserving of the award. On Friday, Jackman announced that, unable to decide, he had chosen two winners to split the prize: Operation of Hope, a medical foundation that donates surgical procedures to children in developing countries born with facial deformities, and Charity: Water, a non-profit dedicated to providing safe drinking water in developing countries. One of the winning tweets came from Charity: Water president and founder Scott Harrison, who tweeted a link to a photo of a group of Ethiopian children holding up a hand-made sign with the simple message “Dear Mr. Hugh Jackman, thank you for helping us!” Harrison added: “dear @realhughjackman — just snapped this near Eritrean border at a school of 1400 w/o clean water.” (courtesy of PBS.org).

And that is the power of Social Media.

Sanjay Sabarwal is a Save A Mother volunteer. He is also the General Counsel as well as co-owner of Ziba Beauty, a chain of brow lounges in Southern California that specializes in The Art of Threading ® and The Art of Mehndi.

The participants came from Sultanpur district and two other districts: Azamgarh and Jhansi. The syllabus included extensive interactive training pertinent to rural health. We hope that these participants will help in carrying out further training in their regions with minimal outside help. We will closely monitor the progress and take action to improve. They will also assist with our ongoing training program.

We also continue to train local women to be village health activists who educate and assist the villagers. In July 2009 we will conduct four training sessions at Bhadar, Gauriganj, Amava, and Singhpur Blocks in Uttar Pradesh. 15 to 20 participants will attend each training and the recently trained trainers will assist. 

We will continue to keep you informed of our progress through our newsletters.

Maternal mortality, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is “death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.” It is worth noting that 45 percent of these deaths occur within the first 24 hours of delivery. There is direct maternal death which is caused by complication of the pregnancy, delivery, or the management of the birth. Indirect maternal death is pregnancy related death caused by a pre-existing or new medical condition. Some of the major causes of maternal death are bacterial infections, gestational hypertension (pre-eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome), obstetrical hemorrhage, ectopic pregnancy, amniotic fluid embolism, and complications of unsafe abortions. In the developing world, 20 in 100,000 births lead to maternal mortality. It is 400 in 100,000 worldwide and 440 in 100,000 in the developing world. The Maternal Mortality Rate has decreased from 520 to 308 per 100,000 live births in India over the last 40 years. However, many regions of India still maintain a mortality rate of over 500/100,000 such as Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, where Save-A-Mother works. This breaks down to 160 women in India a day dying giving birth. This is very high, even in relation to other developing countries, including nearby Sri Lanka that has a rate of 58/100,000. China has a rate of 46/100,000 births and a developed country such as the USA has a rate of 8.9/100,000 births.

While these are the main causes of maternal mortality; unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, and poor quality of care also are major causes of many preventable cases. This is generally from lack of nearby medical care and poor nutrition. These include malnutrition, anemia, infection, sepsis, lack of immunization, excessive bleeding, and difficult labor. Every pound less a child is born than the average doubles the risk of complications. This is precisely the case in Uttar Pradesh. This is where Save-A-Mother comes in. The project, in conjunction with local NGOs, is committed to the education of mothers about pregnancy, nutrition, immunization, delivery, and care of the child through trained health activists. Human care is a fundamental right and through education we believe that society will demand proper care. By starting off on a small scale, the plan is to educate and track maternal progress on an individual basis to ensure maternal safety. The health and safety of children will be followed as well. This data will be collected on a village by village basis to measure progress. This will start off with 190 trained health activists in 150 villages. By the end of 2009, the plan is to have more than 400 volunteers educating about sanitation, infectious disease, AIDS, adolescent health, and reproductive health. Ultimately, the hope is through this methodology as well as fresh innovative ideas that come through over time to expand the program through other villages and states in India to other parts of the world.

Ultimately, success will be measured by a few different avenues. Obviously, a decrease in maternal mortality is tantamount. However, we want a maximal number of mothers to register and be educated through us. As they have more success in child delivery; through word of mouth more mothers join the program and reap the benefits of education. Awareness, education, nutrition, and access to healthcare as well as to institutional delivery are fundamental to the project. Mothers will become accustomed to and demand the newer ways of maternal health as it becomes the norm. The measure of success will not take months but years. But through constant hard work, collaboration, and innovation we know it is possible. We are looking to achieve a 50 percent reduction of mother mortality in 5 years in our pilot project area. The plan is to then expand this to replicate this model in 2 more districts in 2 years and then to parts of India where maternal mortality is higher than average for India.

There are several ways one can help. We are a purely volunteer organization so there is no overhead. One can donate some time, effort, keep others informed, and educate others about maternal mortality. Donations are also welcome. Merely 7 dollars a month will help us develop a master training facility where we can educate health workers to go out to the villages and to pass on the knowledge to help prevent maternal mortality. All donations are tax deductible.

Every woman has a right to go through pregnancy and child birth without the danger of disability and death… Through some simple changes and education we know this is possible. We want to give every mother the safety and facilities to minimize suffering and death associated with the child bearing experience. In turn, we ensure that their children have a mother’s love in life. Many children die before the age of 2 when a case of maternal mortality strikes. No child deserves a life without a mother. Together we can help ensure more mothers survive and are able to have a rich life filled with mutual love with their children. It will take a change in attitudes, hard work, and a little luck to ensure success. With the undying human spirit, anything is possible. So much has already been done over the years of humanity to prevent maternal mortality and now we want to further that progress to every corner of the world. Welcome to Save-A-Mother.

Photo taken by Save-A-Mother staff.

Solution 1: Click on this link to read about the internationally renowned Ela Bhatt and her Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), an empire for poor working women in Ahmedabad, India created using a Gandhian approach – contributed by Rima Shah

Solution 2: Read about a successful micro-planning initiative in Thane District of Maharashtra, implemented by Population First, an NGO working on population and health issues within the framework of women’s rights and social development – contributed by Ashvini Bommakanty

While a number of South Asians actively engage in philanthropy a large segment of the community hesitate to donate to charity fearing how their money will be spent. Will corruption misappropriate the funds into the hands of people that don’t need help? Will it go to pay the salaries of staff employed by the non-profit or will it be used for necessary services? While these are valid concerns, the answers to these questions can be found with just a few minutes of research. What needs to be emphasized is that there are a large number of non-profits engaging in positive and necessary work. These organizations are run by dedicated people who have the sincere intent of helping out those in need.

With a little investigation, people can verify how donated funds are being spent. Organizations like Charity Navigator and American Institute of Philanthropy track and investigate how wisely charities use and spend their contributions.   Through Charity Navigator one can plug in the name of an organization and see a pie chart breakdown of how funds are being spent on services to those in need vs. administrative costs and fundraising expenses. Also included is a 4 star rating system to let people know how efficiently charities perform. The amount of revenue the charity brings in is documented for the public to see along with how much is spent on overhead costs and what’s allocated for services. For those non-profits not yet listed on sites like Charity Navigator, the potential donor can spend a few minutes researching an organization online. It helps to research whether these organizations have won national or international awards for their work, have had news stories written about their success, or citing other credible sources that track charity work. With this transparency a reluctant person who’s unsure about contributing their time or money can decide which non-profit is most capable of putting their donation to use.

Save-A-Mother (SAM) is one such organization with low administrative costs. Funding has been used strictly to train several hundred local health activists in Uttar Pradesh. These women monitor and educate expecting mothers to prevent pregnancy complications. Health activists also encourage mothers to seek health care from local medical facilities to ensure safety for both the mother and child. All other administrative needs are taken care of by volunteers of chapters in various cities.

Outreach efforts for SAM have helped increase its membership and made the organization more visible. Online social networks like Facebook and Linked-in have proved to be valuable tools in raising awareness about SAM’s life-saving work. A recent wine tasting event hosted by Master Sommelier, Alpana Singh, and sponsored by Chicago based non-profit Ekya also helped raise funds for SAM. Coming up on May 2nd, SAM will be hosting an annual fundraising event at Mars Gallery in Chicago (see back for more details).

SAM’s progress to reduce maternal mortality will be largely successful as more and more members of the South Asian community discover the importance of philanthropy and giving back.

As support grows, Save-A-Mother expects to expand its program on a larger scale by training even more health activists, increasing its reach by working in additional villages, and raising even greater awareness of reducing maternal and infant mortality.

Photo taken by Save-A-Mother staff.

Solution 1: The Pancham Mahila Vikas Sangathan along with various healthcare and philanthropic organizations collaborated together to bring efficient healthcare services to the women of Kutch, Gujarat. A survey conducted by the Sangathan showed that various health issues had proven to be problematic and detrimental to the women living in the area. This was largely due to the lack of government and private healthcare facilities; therefore, a new system had to be developed to attend to these health issues. As a first step, nurses were sent to the impoverished areas on behalf of the Sangathan in order to perform physical exams and provide basic medical education to the women. Click on this link to read more about how the Sangathan molded itself into successfully delivering healthcare to the women of Kutch.

Solution 2: For a population of over 8 million, Tehran offers exemplary primary health care and sanitation, with vaccination rates at 100%, close to universal access to clean water, and 80% of pregnant women examined three times during their pregnancy. The Women Health Volunteers (WHV) program is an integral part of Iran’s primary health care plan. It includes a network of 100,000 women who help the government with health and hygiene in urban areas like Tehran. Women volunteers are trained in the program’s health centers and then sent out to educate their families and neighbors. Click on this link to learn more about this path-breaking program whose chief architect, Dr. Hossein Malek-Afzali, won the U.N. Population Award in 2007.

• Trained 32 new women health activists from different villages
• Conducted three refresher training courses for activists who have been trained in the past
• Signed a collaboration agreement with the International Institute of Health Management Research, Delhi, to train 40 block level trainers who will conduct trainings for village activists in their locations. This is an effort to scale up the program

Please visit Save-A-Mother Volunteer page to find out how you can get involved today!

 

Photo taken by Save A Mother staff.