Danesh

Danesh, a tiny baby aged only 3 months, had a tragic start to his life. His mother died during childbirth and his father was unable to cope with caring for him, so his auntie, Meera, took on the role of primary care giver. During the first few months of his life, Meera tried her best to provide adequate nourishment for her nephew but sadly it was not enough and Danesh’s weight dropped dangerously low. The local village health worker found Meera with the baby and advised her to go to the NRC at CINI so that the baby could have proper nutrition. Danesh was admitted to the NRC with third degree malnourishment, weighing only 2.7kg at 3 months of age. Whilst at CINI, Danesh was given powdered milk so that he is could receive adequate nourishment. Meera was given advice on how to appropriately feed Danesh without breast milk and how to keep him healthy after leaving CINI. After two weeks Danesh’s weight had gone up to 3.2kg and Meera and all the health care staff at CINI were very happy with the progress he was making and hoped he would continue to make progress with love, commitment and care of his auntie.

Over 78,000 women die each year from childbirth in India alone. This shocking figure leaves many children without mothers and often without a family. These children are at risk from all sorts of dangers including malnutrition, psychological scars, sexual exploitation, drug addiction, abuse and child trafficking. CINI’s projects such as ‘Adopt a Mother’ aim to reduce the incidence of maternal death through providing adequate antenatal and postnatal care, as well as other projects which help children at risk of malnutrition, sexual exploitation and child trafficking.