Sangeeta is improving her boys’ lives and futures
Sangeeta is the 21-year old mother of two boys. Her older son is almost 2, and her youngest is just 5 months old. Sangeeta and her husband have struggled a lot since getting married and setting up their family. Her husband whittles keys on the side of the road, earning about 50 rupees (just over $1) a day, and Sangeeta sells old clothes and goes out begging occasionally when money is especially tight and she is worried about being able to feed her family.
With the birth of her second son, Vishal, Sangeeta decided that it was time she joined a Mommy-Baby class at the AIC Health and Community Center. At these classes, Sangeeta and the other mothers participate in interactive discussions led by local specialists and health workers on a wide range of topics designed to improve their understanding of their children’s nutritional, developmental, health-related, emotional, social and family-related needs.
The mothers and their babies also engage in hands-on activities to further enhance their understanding of concepts. As she has two children under the age of 2, Sangeeta attends class twice as often – with the 0-12 month babies and their mothers, and the 12-24 month toddlers and their mothers – meaning that she is learning twice as much!
Sangeeta benefits from the attendance incentives offered to the women as well – small toiletry and hygiene items like soap, baby toothbrushes, and baby lotion. On her family’s meager income, Sangeeta would be unable to provide these items for her little ones without the support of the program. Sangeeta feels excited about the information that she is learning and the opportunity to bond with other women. Through these classes, she knows that she is improving her children’s lives and futures.
Thank you, Mike and Suzanne, Lowry, Cindy, and James, for coming together to provide a year of parenting classes to Sangeeta. This will not only help make her raise her children better, it will empower her to be a more useful member of the community.