‘My name is Lalsari and I am 40 years old. I live in the Jumla District and have been serving my community for 10 years as a Female Community Health Volunteer [FCHV].

In the past, women here were deprived of many opportunities and were often ignored by their own families. They were valued less than men and were often confined to the kitchen. They were nervous and shy about introducing themselves to others and about participating in meetings. If they saw strangers, they would often hide.

INF began working in my community about eight years ago and I became a member of a Self-Help Group [SHG]. We received lots of training and learnt to be more assertive. Members were encouraged to share ideas, feelings and thoughts in every meeting. This helped us to gain some recognition and we became actively involved in community work as we discussed the problems and issues of our community and made action plans to address them.

Although there was a health post in our area, it had very few facilities and was unable to provide even simple services. Pregnant woman who experienced problems during child birth often died because of the lack of services.

They used to carry heavy loads and work hard all day during their pregnancies and this would often cause miscarriages. Now, we have all become much more aware of health issues and we now have a birthing centre in our area.

I am now able to use the knowledge and skills to make the situation much safer for women and young children. Now, mothers go to the health post for their regular check-ups, and to immunize their children. This means that there are now almost no mother and child deaths in our area. I am grateful to INF for helping us to make these changes.’

Self-Help Groups play a key role in INF’s Community Health and Development  work across hundreds of communities in Western Nepal.