Academy for Educational Development

Nidhi Khare originally wanted to be a scientist and inventor. But after earning a postgraduate degree in biochemistry, she realized that to continue her research, she would have to leave the country, which she was not willing to do. Instead, she went to work for the government where she could improve the lives of the “the most neglected people” she said.

Her goal is to reduce the high number of infant and maternal deaths in Jharkhand, India. The majority of the 30 million people living in the state are in remote areas, have poor literacy skills, and live below the poverty line. “That makes the problem very complex,” noted Khare, special secretary for the state’s Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Khare began working with AED in 2006 through the A2Z micronutrient program. A2Z stresses the importance of administering vitamin A to children, and iron/folic acid tablets and de-worming medicine to women and young children. All three interventions are scientifically proven to prevent anemia, reduce mortality, and promote physical and mental development.

As Khare and AED began establishing a program to distribute the micronutrients in Jharkhand, one of the biggest challenges they encountered was convincing the local communities that the supplements were vitally important to their health.

The training Khare and her staff received from AED taught them specific strategies they could use to communicate in a way that would change behavior.

“We learned that if we don't understand the language of the community, its local customs, we can never convince them,” Khare said emphatically. “Now, we sit on the ground, we behave like them, speak their language, and make sure they don't think we are from another planet. We have designed different advocacies [that they] understand.”

Because of the success of the program, there are now plans to scale it up to the entire state, Khare said.