The Antara Foundation Blog

By Gaurav Masih (Program Officer, Chhattisgarh) My role as Program Officer gives me the opportunity to closely interact with several frontline health workers. Over the last several months, I came across some remarkable women who showed that if you have the will, you can achieve your aspirations despite all odds. I wish to narrate an inspiring story of one such person from Mahasamund district, Motin Sahu, and the challenges she went through during her journey from Mitanin (similar to an ASHA worker) to Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) [ Note 1 ]  – a role she always dreamed of. Motin Sahu (41 years old) in her current role as an ANM Since Motin was a child, she wanted to help her community when she grew up. But as is the norm in traditional societies across rural India, she got married very early. It was a long road for Motin. She worked as a teacher right after marriage. Despite support from her family and neighbors, she had to quit shortly since her Mama-Sasur (uncle-in-law) started

Antara Foundation works at the grassroots of public health delivery with some of the most marginalized communities in rural India. What is “community” for us? First, government frontline health workers, drawn mostly from local communities – the nurse-midwife (or ANM), the ASHA worker (village health mobilizer) and the anganwadi worker (nutrition caretaker). The second, the larger community of village populations, with our interventions focused on pregnant women, lactating mothers, newborns, and children. This article introduces you to the latter, that is, our end beneficiaries, and highlights various aspects of their lives. Where we work We work in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India’s fifth most populous state (~85m people) and second largest in expanse. Located at the heart of India (“ Madhya ” means central in Hindi), the state’s terrain is characterized by low mountain ranges, extensive plateaus and river valleys and is home to ten national parks. Large areas within the state are