Jalkaur benefits from encouragement and support

Jalkaur is a 28-year old mother of three girls and one boy, ages 6, 4, 3 and 1.  Her youngest child is her daughter, Nita.  Jalkaur’s husband has recently started working as a caddy at the golf course near the family’s slum community, and earns 2,500 rupees ($50) in a good month, which makes it a constant challenge to keep up with expenses.  Jalkaur does not work outside of the house, as it is not considered appropriate for women in her community to work and travel outside of the house except for very specific purposes.

Jalkaur began attending Mother-Baby classes at the AIC Health and Community Outreach Centre in the toddler class (mothers and children ages 12-24 months) with her second-youngest child last year.  When Nita was born, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity to join the baby class as well, and started attending an additional weekly class with Nita.

Jalkaur is believed to have a fairly low IQ, and has difficulty staying on top of her responsibilities as a mother, particularly those related to their cleanliness and hygiene.  She has really benefited from the constant encouragement and guidance provided to her by the health workers and social workers who run the classes every week.  They explain concepts, ranging from family planning and birth spacing to diet and nutrition to infant and child care, by incorporating a lot of group discussions, guest lecturers, field trips and hands-on activities, so that all participants, including Jalkaur, are able to understand and retain the information.  Jalkaur’s husband is supportive of Jalkaur’s participation in the class, because he feels that she has improved her parenting skills and is more attentive.  Jalkaur and Nita love attending, and never miss a class!