Day Care Health Centres

 
The primary aim of our centres is to reduce infant and child mortality and to improve the quality of life of extremely poor children through healthcare and day nursery provision including ECD (Early Childhood Development). Without even basic healthcare available for many miles around young children from the villages suffer as a result of treatable illnesses and accidents.  

The centres provide free healthcare for children and transfers to our clinic in Pokhara or to partner hospitals for more serious cases.  They also provide day care for young children who are at risk, especially from accidents involving fire and unnoticed illnesses, because of poor supervision while mothers work in the fields.  These children receive good quality early years education, which will give them a head start when they go to school, and also a midday meal to improve their nutrition and health.

Our partner CWSN has a good track record in developing and operating these centres, in partnership with the local communities.  They have now provided 13 in total, serving 600 children for day care and the wider community for health care.  One of these centres was our first project.  The villagers provide the land and building labour and they also contribute what they can towards the running costs.  CWS provides materials, technical assistance, monitoring and quality control.  The centres are staffed by people from the village (3 nursery teachers and a medical worker for each centre), trained for their roles by CWS, and eventually are handed over completely to be managed by the village management committee.

Child friendly and fun education

This is the emphasis of education and early childhood development (ECD) in the DCHC's, and the teachers work hard to make the environment safe, interesting, and above all, fun!  They don't try to ‘teach', but to show that school can be a great place to go.  This opens the child's mind to develop as individuals while socialising with other children.

The children sing songs, dance, play games, listen to stories, and take part in creative activities.  There is also an emphasis on healthcare, showing children the importance of hygiene and cleanliness.  Every morning, children run to the centres full of excitement at the thought of a day at the centres.

Village Health Care

Children attending the centres receive free daily check ups and treatment from a local community health worker, thus avoiding the escalation of simple health problems.  The most common ailments include cuts and bruises, pneumonia, diarrhoea, skin and eye-infections.  The centres also offer the rest of the community easy and immediate access to low cost health care, and for more serious cases, referral to Asha Clinic in Pokhara for more advanced treatment.   

The health workers hold regular awareness programmes amongst the villagers on topics such as HIV/Aids, keeping healthy, hygiene.  Particular emphasis is placed on ‘reaching out' to members of the community facing particular challenges, including caste prejudices, physical or mental challenges.