Nutrition Workshop with the Paro Community!

During the month of June great steps have been made towards improving health habits in the Paro community. After becoming aware that some nutrition habits of the community are a problem leading to health issues (such as weakness, shakiness, fevers, etc.) we decided to work on this. Therefore, Iria and I, the health interns in Punjab, organized a nutritional workshop with the girls in the office and with the women at the camp. The workshop was carried out in two different days and it was a great success: we all had a lot of fun and learned different things related to diet and health. The first day we talked about their nutritional habits and how they could be improved, using some flashcards and giving them some tips (such as drinking at least six glasses of water everyday, highlighting the importance of diet when breastfeeding or the importance of eat a variety of food).

                                   Sajana, at the camp, with one of the flashcards with some tips.

We also covered the properties of the different vegetables and fruits that they can find in Paro using as well flashcards for each vegetable (its name and picture), its properties, its price and how can it be cooked.

                      Omti, Jamna and Nura going throw the flashcards of the different vegetables and fruits with Iria.

This flashcards are now in the office and the girls can look up the information whenever they want. We also played a game in which they had to guess which food they tasted without seeing it. It was so much fun!

                           Geeta and Chandas at the office, playing the ‘guessing game’ with Iria and me.

                                          Omti and Nura playing the ‘guessing game’ at the camp.

Last, we worked on the Indian food pyramid and we compared their habits to what it is recommended (what food do they eat and in what amount). Finally they created their pyramid, which is now in our office!

                                     The food pyramid that they created, which is now in the office.

Iria and I carried out the workshop without help on translation (and we understood the women and they understood us pretty well)! We end up talking about different health issues (related to pregnancy, diet, and hygiene). We are developing a trusting relationship in which we can talk about different issues and relate hygiene and nutrition with health problems. I think that this is a great step!

Besides the success of the nutritional workshop in Paro, we have more good news here in Punjab: a new health intern has arrived, Ouma, who will be working in Harianna. Now, Ouma and I are going to work to improve the health situation of the communities in Paro and in Harianna. This next month we are going to keep doing more educational activities, as we think it is very important to promote health through education.

Carla Andrés Viñas, Spain

Health Project Manager

June 2013