During the last couple days, I've shared stories of our healthy eating and nutrition classes in Islamabad. While we totally understand the importance of integrating nutritious meals in our daily lives, we thought it would be fun to also spark a bit of joy, asking children to share their favorite meal with us - and then making it happen! Children usually don’t eat lunch at the informal schools right now, so this was a special treat. When we asked them what their favorite foods were, biryani came out as a solid winner, with chicken sandwiches as a close second. But to tell you the truth, I’m not surprised. I have yet to meet a person from South Asia that doesn’t love biryani, my own family included! Biryani is a traditional spiced rice dish made with a type of meat and sometimes vegetables, many times eaten on special occasions. Just thinking about it makes me hungry! So biryani it was! We had a local small business owner, known for her scrumptious food across town, make … [Read more...] about A Few of Our Favorite Foods

Following Zara’s well-received nutrition classes, the class filled with women received a surprise bag of healthy goodies for their families! Each bag included fresh vegetables such as tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, squash, and carrots, as well as 16 different types of vegetable seeds - plus some fruit tree seedlings to encourage them to put their newfound knowledge to use. Zara had emphasized the importance of not overcooking vegetables to prevent the nutrients from cooking away, and also said it was okay for children to eat certain vegetables raw, like carrots. This must have resonated with the women in Ispalal - a few of them washed the carrots from their bag of goodies right away and handed them to their children to munch on! While the nutrition class for their mothers was going on in the school, the kids had worked very hard with us to divvy up the colorful fruits and vegetables in the courtyard, showing us their balancing skills or counting skills in English! “We … [Read more...] about Eat Your Veggies!

Hi! My name is Shamaila, and I normally work out of the Minneapolis office. But this week I'll be taking over for our last series of Pakistan posts (for now, of course!) in Islamabad and Gilgit. I'm so excited to share what we've been up to and all the change that been taking place! Today we're in Islamabad, continuing to work on food and nutrition related projects in the non-formal schools we run. As we enroll 1 million more children into school, we’re also working to make sure they have full bellies so they can concentrate on their studies - rather than when their next meal might come. Pakistan has one of the highest rates of stunting in children in the world: between 38%-44% of children experience stunting, meaning approximately 1/3 of the world's stunted children live in Pakistan. And this was quite apparent when we visited our informal schools around Islamabad. Wearing my public health hat - and through discussions with the Islamabad team - we decided to hire Zara, a … [Read more...] about Full Bellies, Strong Minds

The school in Ishpitdas is surrounded by land, but it wasn't the school's property - until now. Its next door neighbor, Saddam and his father, have generously donated the land to the school. They're devoted to providing education to the children of the community, and are willing to give over their own property to support the cause. Chatting with Saddam, we realized that this land could be used for a kitchen garden, a place for kids to access fruits and vegetables, if seeds and equipment could be provided to set it up. Saddam is a building contractor by profession, and he has his own farm where he grows fruit, vegetables and crops. He also has a few cows and goats for his family. "Almost all of the community here grows their own food since they can't afford to spend a lot on buying food from the market," he said. "I am glad that the land surrounding the school can be used to grow food for the schoolchildren! It's difficult for children to study when they are not fully … [Read more...] about Generosity Grows

Most families in both the Ispitdas and Shehrot have at least one goat in their homes for milk. Families prefer keeping goats - they require less land than a cow, they're easier to breed, and they provide enough milk for the average family. So it makes sense that as we spent time with these communities, ideas about goats came up a lot! But some families can't afford a goat. But they told us that they'd love to have one - for milk and making desi ghee, vital sources of nutrition for kids and adults alike. After talking to the families and the local community committees, we decided to give one goat each to thirteen families who didn't have one! We gave over goats who are already producing milk so that they can be useful right away. We also decided that the committee will help families look after these goats and breed them for offspring, which can be given to other families in the communities that can't afford them. The parents who got these goats were delighted - they can … [Read more...] about Get Your Goat

In Gilgit, most areas have access to electricity - but hardly any have access to natural gas. It's expensive, especially for communities that rely on daily wage labor and subsistence farming. In the community of Shehrot, some families told us that they still rely on firewood for cooking. They simply can't afford to buy the gas cylinders and refill them month after month. Gilgit doesn’t have a lot of vegetation because of its rugged terrain, so everyone must climb steep hills in search of scant vegetation that can be foraged for firewood. "Each journey takes a total of 8 hours including the climb, cutting and getting down," said Razzaq, a reident of Shehrot who forages for firewood. "All the wood must be carried on our backs and one journey gets us enough fuel for 3-4 days." This is not only a cumbersome process, but burning firewood has led to a depletion of already scant vegetation - and causes air pollution inside homes. The people of Shehrot knew this was a problem, but … [Read more...] about Fueling Up

We might never solve the riddle of the chicken of the egg - but what we can be sure of is that you can have either and maintain a sustainable source of nutrition. Recently, our newly elected Prime Minister suggested that giving chickens or eggs to marginalized families can help with poverty alleviation - and provide a rich source of protein. Starting a small-scale poultry breeding farm is relatively cheap, and requires much less resources compared to other types of livestock or agricultural farming. This is one of the reasons why it came up so often in conversations with the communities of Gilgit - it was by far the most popular idea. Another reason this idea was so popular was that last year, Gilgit was hit with bird flu that wiped out almost all the poultry. The whole region, including government farms, had suffered greatly due to this epidemic - and they wanted restart poultry breeding again. After talking to some poultry experts, we decided that a flock consisting of … [Read more...] about Chicken or the Egg?

Gilgit has so much potential...the soil is rich, the possibilities for growing fruit and vegetables is abundant. A lot of people in the area process fruits and vegetables for a living, creating goodies like dried apricots, cherries, and different jams and juices. But so much of this abundance remains untapped. Poonam, who recently got married and moved into the Ispitdas community, was so excited to share some of her ideas for how to better process these foods. She had learned how to process fruits and vegetables in-house in her old town, and wanted to continue her work in her new home. She was also very eager to teach other women of the community - and set up a small enterprise that could empower them. We thought that was an excellent idea! And we wanted to help her make it happen. After having a detailed discussion with Poonam, we provided the community with seven gas cylinders with attached stoves, ten food processing units, steel utensils, and essential ingredients … [Read more...] about It’s a Process

Combating malnutrition isn't always about quantity, sometimes it's all about quality. It's true that many impoverished communities are faced with a shortage of food sources, but while we work on providing them with stability, we also work to share knowledge for how to get the most out of a little. The community of Shihrot in Gilgit, Pakistan is largely dependent on subsistence farming, which just barely meets the dietary needs of the local families. We've implemented a few projects to assist them in increasing their earnings and productivity to get more resources, but we wanted to address ways to hone in on the things already available... We decided to arrange lectures by expert nutritionists, offering them advice on cooking healthier and more nutritious meals. The community consumes fresh farm and livestock produce, which is a healthier option, and informative nutritional advice on top of it can complement it further. A lecture was arranged in the local community … [Read more...] about Nutrition Talks

When it comes to food and nutrition, all parents want the best for their kids. An one of the biggest reason behind malnutrition is, at the end of the day, a lack of resources. The community of Shihrot Thingee, Gilgit has an abundance of generosity, but most of the families survive on subsistence farming and daily wage labor. The produce from their small farms and daily earnings are hardly enough to cover basic necessities of the family. The community, especially women, have an enterprising spirit! When chatting with some of these women, we were told that around 20 of them were highly interested in sewing, and had hired a trainer of their own accord. But they were unable to afford her salary. It was also hard for them to buy new sewing machines. Even though our team’s focus was mainly on food and nutrition of school children, we realized that if a sustainable enterprise could be set up by the parents of the children, they would be in a better position to provide good … [Read more...] about One Stitch at a Time