International Women’s Day - How SuPoshan Sanginis found innovative ways to reach beneficiaries in spite of the pandemic

True dedication and hard work are the prerequisites to conquer any challenge, especially one that involves real change on the ground. The SuPoshanSanginis associated with the Fortune SuPoshan movement, found innovative ways to connect with the intended beneficiaries, and to reach out to them to ensure the pandemic had little effect on their work.

Fortune SuPoshan movement, an initiative by Adani Wilmar and implemented by Adani

Foundation is aimed at improving nutritional status of children of up to five years, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. Its activities are carried out at 23 locations in 12 states, covering 1,268 villages, and 106 slums.

In less than five years, the movement has touched the lives of around 16 lakh people and reached out to over 1 lakh children, more than 96,000 adolescent girls and 2.68 lakh women in reproductive age.

The SuPoshanSanginis are resource persons at the village level for malnutrition and anemia and complement the role of anganwadi workers. They are usually the first contact person for awareness generation and community mobilization. Their activities include visiting households aims to reduce the occurrence of malnutrition among children, to reduce malnutrition and anaemia among adolescent girls and women in reproductive age group, to support efforts in reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) & Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR). They ensure beneficiaries have a proper food intake regime, providing necessary counseling, and conducting group meetings and discussions for subjects related to malnutrition and anemia.

Because of the scale and scope, the work is challenging to say the least, and it was more so during the lockdown. However, the Sanginis ensured their work was not affected, and came out with flying colours.

“The dedication and zeal of the SuPoshanSanginis are the real reasons behind the success of the Fortune SuPoshan campaign. True to the spirit of womanhood, they look at their activities not as work, but as a social commitment. This International Women’s Day, we laud their spirit and express our wholehearted gratitude towards each of the Sanginis,” said Ajay Motwani, Chief Marketing Officer, Adani Wilmar Limited.

Since personal meetings and household visits were not possible, they offered telephonic counseling to thousands of beneficiaries, including mothers of malnourished children, pregnant women and adolescent girls, on issues such as exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding, nutrition needs of malnourished children, proper diet for adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, COVID-19 awareness, etc.

The SuPoshan team also marked various important occasions during the year through a host of activities. It marked the World Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28 with telephonic counseling to adolescent girls and women, stressing on the importance of menstrual hygiene.

To celebrate World Environment Day on June 5, the Sanginis carried out seed distribution for kitchen gardens in 328 villages and 26 slums across sites. Families of malnourished children were provided guidance about growing their own food, and as many as 1,766 households were supported.

More than 500 beneficiaries from 100 villages participated in Yoga Day celebrations on June 21. Several activities were organized as a part of World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 to 7, which included webinars, poster / drawing competitions, slogan writing, etc, and each of them saw participation from hundreds of beneficiaries.

The PoshanMaah or Nutrition Month was also celebrated with multiple activities from September 1 to 30, with the focus on creating awareness. Rangoli making, slogan writing, drawing, quiz, kitchen garden development, and cooking demos were organized during the month.

The team also utilized the time and opportunity to upgrade their own skills. Nearly 300 staff and SuPoshanSanginis completed courses and modules on relevant topics such as basic nutrition, mother’s health, infant and your child feeding anemia, food fortification, immunization, etc.