Meet Gulsana from India

Catholic Relief Services’ mother and child health programs in India and around the world train health workers to care for families with young children. The health workers encourage expectant mothers to eat extra food and take vitamin supplements, and they measure the growth and weight of babies after they are born. This program reflects the Catholic social teaching principle Option for the Poor.

My name is Gulsana and I am 13 years old. I live with my parents, four brothers, and two sisters in the village of Bahadurnagar in India. My parents work hard but don’t earn much and can’t afford enough food for our family. The littlest person in our family is my two-year old sister Shabnam, who has always been small for her age. Mrs. Seini, a health worker who works with CRS in our village, visited our house with a special chart about nutrition and healthy growth for babies. She weighed Shabnam and told us that she needed more food.

Mrs. Seini offered to give us a nutritious powdered food from the government every week, but my father didn’t want to try it. He thought it was strange food for a baby. Worried about my sister, I talked to Mrs. Seini again. She told me to fry the food and add sugar to make a kind of pudding. My father tasted the pudding and said it was good, so we gave some to Shabnam. Now that Shabnam is getting more food, she looks healthier and moves around and plays more. Mrs. Seini says she has improved a lot. I am so happy that I was able to help my little sister.