“Do you regularly visit the doctor?”, “Are there any complications?”, “Do you take iron pills regularly?” asks a team of local representa­tives led by Mayor Upendra Bahadur Thapa to Sarita Nam­jali, an eight-month pregnant woman. Sarita is a resident of Panchapuri municipality in Surkhet, a hilly district in Karnali Province.

 

Sarita could not open up easily in the beginning. But after the ward chair Hom Bahadur Ramjali requested her, she said, “I get regular check-ups. I haven’t really had problems so far.”

 

After talking to Sarita, the team asked her mother-in-law Kaushila Namjali, to take good care of Sarita and to serve her nutritious meals. They even got the family to sign a pledge to do so.

 

The local representatives of Panchapuri municipality are visiting individual house­holds to observe the condi­tion of pregnant women and advise their families to care for them. They started doing so after they found that preg­nant women in the area were not getting regular check-ups and eating nutritious food, which has contributed to higher maternal mortality and a greater number of malnour­ished children in the region. According to one study, 55 percent of Karnali’s children suffer from malnutrition.

 

“It is important to make sure that pregnant women eat well and receive proper care. They face higher risks if they do not get regular medical check-ups,” says Mayor Thapa. “The govern­ment has a responsibility to ensure that pregnant women are safe. It’s something that we’re sensitive about.”

 

Apart from the elected representatives, local health workers, women volunteers and members of mother groups also visit preg­nant women and give them health-related suggestions.

 

A campaign has also been launched to hoist a green flag in every household that has a pregnant woman so as to identify such houses easily. “We have been closely observ­ing the condition of pregnant women in our locale. When­ever we see a green flag, we visit the household for consul­tation and monitoring,” says ward chair Ramjali.

 

Besides the flags, posters and banners with instructions on good eating habits for pregnant women are posted at the front of these homes. Also, family members pledge to make sure that pregnant women get regular medical check-ups, give birth in a hos­pital and receive good post-na­tal care.

 

Nirmala Singh, a female community health volun­teer, affirms that this cam­paign has contributed to improve care for moth­ers and babies. She also expresses happiness that local representatives are them­selves actively involved in such an inspiring campaign.

 

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Self-defense training in schools for teenage girls

 

 Surkhet : Female students in about a dozen schools in Surkhet have been receiv­ing self-defense training. The three-day-long classes, which are being run by Global Action Nepal, an NGO, teach girl students what to do in case someone tries to sexually harass or rape them.

 

Mina Bishwokarma, a social mobilizer at Global Action Nepal, claims that the train­ing is helpful in combating sexual harassment that girls face. Trainer Gita Koirala says, “These classes are important for girls. They constantly face the risk of sexual harassment. Those who take this training are able to fight back better.”

 

“We learnt ways to fight sexual assaults. We will teach these skills to others. I feel more secure than before,” says Nischal Koirala, a student who received the training.