The Positive Change in Sujata

"I thought I just had to manage some children. But later I came to know that these are skills and I am glad that I could learn them", Sujata greets us and begins her story. We are at Mysore's Kurubara Halli, and Sujata happily welcomes us and offers us a chair to sit.

Sujata started as an Aanganwadi worker three years back. Around that time, Pratham was working directly with the Balwadis in the community. However, since December last year, it entered into a partnership with Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which trained 49 supervisors in 2,800 Anganwadis of Mysore district and Sujata's Anganwadi was one of them. These supervisors then further trained the Anganwadi workers. 

"I now have a better idea of using the material given to us. I have also learned how to manage a group and understood the importance of cognitive skills", she says with a smile. Other than this, she also stresses that she understood the importance of communicating with children and has a few examples to share to prove her point. "Nandesh was a quiet child, and he hardly interacted with others, but now he has started to express himself and shares things with others. And Raju was a very mischievous boy and hardly listened to anyone. However, now I have learned to communicate with him, and he reciprocates very well", she says proudly. 

Sujata has learned how to teach kids the importance of cleanliness and discipline, and she is convinced that it will make a positive impact on children and their parents. "All this has initiated a conversation between the children and the parents. Both of them have also started to talk to me. The children are happy that they are learning something new, whereas the parents are happy because they are becoming aware of the importance of these subjects", she adds. 

All this is evident from the meeting she has with the parents every month. 

"The children here belong to families where parents are outside their home for work for most of the time in the day. Some of them are vegetable sellers, whereas some work at construction sites, and some work as maids and some of them earn their living by driving a rickshaw", she says. 

"I wish to increase the enrollment of children in the Anganwadi. More people should know about this program, and I will definitely create more awareness about it in the community", she says. We wish Sujata all the best in her endeavour and hope that more and more children get benefited through her efforts.