Sarita and Priyanka benefit from support

After Sarita’s husband suffered a tragic accident several years back, Sarita was not sure that they would have more children, and forced herself to focus on their one child, a boy named Harshad. Last year, however, Sarita was excited to find out that she was pregnant, and she is now the proud mother of a seven month old baby girl named Priyanka.

Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Sarita decided to sign up for parenting classes run through Ashraya Initiative for Children, an organization that works in her slum. Almost seven years had passed since the birth of her firstborn and she wanted to take advantage of this new opportunity.

Sarita is a very proactive woman and decided that she wanted to do the most that she could do raise her daughter well. In slum communities such as Sarita’s, misinformation, detrimental tribal traditions and superstition can easily interfere with providing a stable, healthy upbringing to her child. By attending these parenting classes, Sarita is learning about many aspects of infant and toddler care — nutrition and diet, health and hygiene, early childhood education and much more.

She enjoys the support of the other mothers, especially since she has found it difficult to rely on her husband to help with Priyanka since the accident left him with an impaired memory and mental heath issues. He is also unable to work, and Sarita would find it difficult to provide for her baby if she did not receive various clothes items and toiletries through the parenting class. Sarita wishes that she had been able to participate in a class like this when her son was a baby, but is thankful for the chance this time around with her daughter.

Thank you James, for providing a mother like Sarita with this invaluable support through the Ashraya Initiative for Children!