Jyoti and Neha bond at parenting classes

Jyoti is the mother of two young children – her three-year old son, Ashish, and two-year old daughter, Neha.

Her husband, the sole breadwinner, works as a painter earning  around 5000 rupees ($100) per month, depending on the season.

Not long ago, Jyoti heard about a weekly Mother-Baby class being run at the nearby AIC Health and Community Outreach Centre. As many other women from her community were also attending, Jyoti decided to sign up for the class.

The Mother-Baby class is designed to teach women about the dietary needs of their children, baby growth and development, birth spacing and family planning, communication and relationships within the family, good parenting practices and many other topics through structured discussions led by local professionals, specialists and health workers.

Jyoti enjoys the sessions because they are interactive and engaging, and she has the chance to bond with other mothers of similarly aged children over their shared experiences. Jyoti brings Neha with her so that she has an opportunity to socialize and play with educational toys under the watchful eye of a designated caregiver during the discussion portions of the class and participate in the hands-on activites with her mothers during the rest of the class.

The classes also ensure that children like Neha are kept up-to-date with their vaccinations and check-ups. She and Neha also receive small gift items (soap, shampoo, etc) for their good attendance, as well as regular access to the on-site doctor to answer all of Jyoti’s questions. With all of this support, Jyoti feels much more prepared and confident that she can foster an enriching, engaging environment for them at home, despite the fact that neither she nor her husband completed primary school.

Thank you, Subash, for providing a year of parenting classes to Jyoti. This will not only help make her raise her children better, it will empower her to be a more useful member of the community.