The first 1000 days of a child after his birth are the most important days of his life. These are the foundation days that determine the health of the child as he grows up in life. Therefore, it is significant to nurture a child in his first three years of age so that he becomes strong and healthy in the growing years.
Keeping this in mind, the Department of Women and Child Development and the Department of Health in Maharashtra in partnership with Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, and UNICEF have initiated ‘Aarambh’. The initiative which focuses on the mental development of the child in the first 1000 days after birth is being implemented in the state under the leadership of IAS officer Rubal Agarwal, who is the Commissioner of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Maharashtra.
Indian Masterminds spoke to Ms. Agarwal and, also, Dr. Subodh Gupta, Professor and HOD (Community Medicine) of MGIMS Sewagram to understand the initiative.
AARAMBH
Aarambh is a model for empowering parents and primary caregivers by utilizing existing opportunities within Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the health sector, and other service delivery channels. It is a nurturing care framework that provides a roadmap for action, focusing specifically on the period from conception to year 3.
“We are focusing on 0–3-year-old because it is the most important phase of brain development of children. 80% of their brain develops during this period. With the help of UNICEF and MGIMS Wardha, we came up with ‘Aarambh’ that will not only focus on early childhood education but also involve family members of the children, especially their father, and guide them towards better parenting with whatever is available in their homes,” Ms. Agarwal told Indian Masterminds.
PILOT PROJECT
A pilot project was implemented in a population of approximately 100,000 in Wardha, Maharashtra. The learnings from this were utilized to initiate the main project in partnership with UNICEF and were implemented in 10 ICDS projects (around 1200,000 population) in two districts Yavatmal and Aurangabad, of Maharashtra during 2018-20.
“We utilize existing human resources and opportunities within the ICDS and health department, such as AWWs, ASHAs and ANMs and their contact points with parents, other caregivers and communities in the form of home visits, mothers’ meetings, growth monitoring, monthly early childhood care and education (ECCE) days, village health and nutrition days (VHNDs), community group meetings, etc., to promote responsive caregiving and early learning activities,” Dr. Gupta told Indian Masterminds.
EXECUTION
Parents focus on providing their children with the best education from the start, but they don’t realize that what they do at home during their early formative years is more important than anything else.
In order to empower family and community for nurturing care, 250 master trainers will be trained, who in turn will train 3000 ICDS supervisors who will further guide around 1,17,000 Anganwadi workers in the state and expand the reach of the program to each household.
The initiative involves core approaches, such as home visits by Anganwadi and ASHA workers, growth monitoring sessions, mother/parents meetings, promoting engagement of all family members available during home visits, etc. for healthy growth and development of the child.
“We restructured the home visits and established weekly meetings for the mothers. They were divided into four groups – Pregnant and lactating women, Mothers of children 6 months-2 years, Mothers of children 2-4 years, Mothers of children 4-6 years. Each week, one of the groups was invited for a session where at least one play or communication activity was organized for them which made the meetings quite interesting,” Dr. Gupta informed.
AAKAR
“We are trying to counsel the parents to educate the children with the materials available at their home, such as different fruits, vegetables, etc., and make a fun activity for them that will mainly focus on child development and early education,” stated Ms. Agarwal.
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The officer had already shaped an initiative with the name ‘Aakar’ for children from the age of 3 to 6 years. She further included the syllabus of Aakar in the syllabus of Aarambh to form a proper pattern and bring everything in line for the children.
“If everything comes together – Aakar, Aarambh, and school education syllabus, it will be beneficial for the children in the long run,” she said.
EXPANSION
The initiative is being gradually expanded to cover the entire state. UNICEF helped with the funding of the project at the state level and the funding on the district and beat-level will be done by the state government.
The program is being well received everywhere it is being introduced. The pleasurable nature of play and communication activities makes Aarambh the best entry point for all social and behavior change communication messages related to child health.
