Posted: 21/02/2007
Asha welcomed Wendy Butler, wife of the British Deputy High Commissioner, on Tuesday this week. Mrs Butler visited Ekta Vihar, the slum just behind Asha's headquarters, and listened to members of the women's group as they explained how life was in the slum before they started a partnership with Asha.
Mrs Butler spoke of her admiration for Asha's work, and of the women themselves. She told them, "I'm absolutely bowled over by all the work that you do here in health, education, environment, gender issues..I'm just completely overwhelmed".
After meeting the Mahila Mandal members, Mrs Butler saw the computer room in the children's resource centre, and spoke to a couple of the Bal Mandal members. After this, she was welcomed into the home of one of the CHVs and shown the yellow card that records the vaccinations, weight and other information for each child in the slum. Mrs Butler's visit ended at Asha's headquarters where Dr Kiran Martin was able to go into more detail about Asha's activities in Delhi.
My son died when he was a baby as he had diarrhoea and I didn't know the right way to treat him. I was depressed and ashamed, and wouldn't go out for a long time. Asha convinced me to join a women's group and to learn how to recognise and treat different health problems. Now, I've been a Community Health Volunteer for 16 years and only one other child has died from diarrhoea in that time - I'm determined to make sure there are no more.
Gyanwati, Community Health Volunteer, Kalkaji
