Her soft hands cradle a plump baby girl slouched across her lap. She uses those long delicate fingers to lift the bright pink knitted sweater the small child is wearing in order to slowly palpitate the baby’s stomach. The whiteness of her hand resting on child’s dark chocolate brown skin is the only indication that the child is not her own, as she effortlessly calms the sickly baby. Arlene Samens asks Sunita, the young nurse at her side, to ask the mother a series of questions. Her voice is smooth, with only the slightest twinge of concern. The medical questions roll off her tongue easily as she lifts the child in play. The bright light streaming through the open doorway lights up her joyful face. Her dark brown bob bounces up and down in her delight, while the smile lines surrounding her eyes and mouth ooze with kindness. Sunita has...
Tilkumari Koktu is 58 years old, from the village Narayansthan Kolpata, and has been volunteering for 15 years. She is very highly regarded within her community, as an active and positive female role model. She received the One Heart PAVOT training 10 months ago. Why did she want to become a volunteer? To serve the pregnant women, children, and newborn baby. What challenges do the women in her village face? She is saying, most of the women are not rich. They cannot afford to go to hospital, and they cannot afford to eat nutritious food. In her ward, her village, there is mostly the population of lower caste. They all are poor, so they cannot afford to go to baglung hospital. They cannot pay for transportation. They are shy to come to the health post because there is male, they are shy to do check up with the male. Only...
Mina Nepali B.K., 27 years old, has been volunteering for 9 years in the village of Sunuwa Gaum. She has visited with 7 pregnant women so far this year, and received the One Heart PAVOT training one year ago. Why did she want to become a volunteer? I am not here for money, I am here for the service. In this field I can learn many things, like many health issues. It is benefit for myself and for women like me in my village. I can learn many vital things, so I can save child and mother in my community. So I am here to volunteer. What challenges do the women in her village face? “She was only sharing about the health issues” Mostly the women in my community have ultous prolapse, and that is the main problem in my community. And previously they feel shy to share about the...
Bina Kumari B.K. is 31 years old and is from Narayansthan S. Namunagow. She has been volunteering for seven years, and received the One Heart PAVOT training 10 months ago. Why did she want to become a volunteer? She said that in her village lots of women die during pregnancy, and babies die in childhood. She wants to serve them, and she doesn’t want to see the women and child dying. So that is why she became a volunteer. What challenges do the women in her village face? So she said, there is lots of problem of uteren prolapse in her village. And women feel shy to talk about their diseases and illnesses, like uteren prolapse and things which are related to private organ. They feel shy to share with person. For the health check up, for here, they feel shy mostly when they come for antenatal check if there is...
Min Khatri, a 29 year old health volunteer from the village, Chetri Gaun, has been a volunteering in her community for six years. She plays with her five year old son Ashim K.C. during the interview. She received the One Heart PAVOT training one year ago. Why did she want to become a volunteer? She said, “I want to be a volunteer because I want to serve the people. Many people do many Holy things, like worship the god, to get some goodness on them. So she wants to be FCHV, and she wants to serve the people. And she wants to get goodness by serving the people, not by worshipping the gods. And she said, “I want to serve the people, and especially women and child. I became FCHV because I want to raise awareness in my community. So that the women and child can recognize the danger...
