The Antara Foundation Blog

Aditi Revankar “Moooo,” I hear before I see ASHA Sahyogi* Shalini’s smiling face. A thick vermilion streak of sindoor*  parts her hair. Shalini Verma. In Chhindwara, people always ask your last name. Squatting, she picks round, full bulbs, mostly white, a little lavender, from the ground. “ Madam ji, pyaaz ka kaam chal raha hai, socha thoda ghar ka kaam kar loon. ” (it’s time for the onion harvest, thought I’d do some housework). Her lanky son sits nearby, phone in hand, and follows my instructions on how to download the app we use to monitor AAA* meetings. She has a short window during which to use the phone, before the younger children come by to claim their source of entertainment; the same kids who some weeks ago, deleted the app while playing games. Her son is quick, he only needs to be told once. He’s wearing a red baseball cap. His mother is proud. We say bye. The cow demands our attention one last time before I hang up, “Moo…”.   And then silence. On my laptop, I’m faced with t

India’s second COVID wave created a devastating impact on the nation. The unprecedented surge in cases stretched the healthcare system beyond its limits and amounted to huge suffering and loss. Many of us were personally affected. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone.   There has been an outpour of support by organizations to help the country deal with the crisis. Several relief efforts addressed the sudden and steep shortages in oxygen, medicines, and access to treatment. This was no doubt the need of the hour as many Indian cities reeled under the steep demand for COVID treatment. However, the virus began spreading rapidly from urban to rural India. Almost two-thirds of India’s population lives in more than 600,000 villages across the country, and these villages pose a unique challenge. Most Indian villages are small and dispersed, with poor access to health facilities. Rural health facilities are often ill-equipped, with insufficient staff, supplies and infrastructure. Village

Maternal and child mortality is one of India’s biggest health problems. Almost a million children below age-five die each year. More than 25,000 mothers die each year due to pregnancy-related complications. One in three children below age-five is malnourished. Much of this tragedy is preventable, and there are simple proven solutions. The challenge is delivering these on a large scale. This is the essence of Antara Foundation’s (TAF) vision – helping every mother and every child access a healthy start to life. Antara International was born in 2020, as a US 501(c)(3) non-profit to support the work of its partner entity, TAF, a non-profit registered in India. Antara International aims to raise awareness and advocate for the grim maternal, child health and nutrition situation in India. The organization also helps mobilize funds to support TAF’s public health programs running across districts in rural India. TAF works through a range of solutions that strengthen the rural health system