Health Workers and Kitchen Gardens

Friday, April 7, 2017

Amrita SeRVe has made kitchen gardens a key aspect of its health work in the villages, as eating good vegetables is central to well-being. But many villagers cannot afford to purchase them.

Now when our health workers conduct home visits, they monitor whether or not there are kitchen gardens along with how well the gardens are doing. The health workers take a look at what vegetables are being grown and what the nutritional benefits are of that type. Of course, they share all info with the family.

One of the important things to observe is whether the people are eating the vegetables themselves or whether they are selling them to external sources due to need of income. If the vegetables are being sold, the health worker takes the time to discuss with the family members why the maintenance of their own health needs to be a priority over any other thing. They cannot even continue to earn money if they are not in a healthy state, and their body is not supporting them to do physical or mental work.

The health worker also makes sure to note any problems being faced for the care of the garden, like the availability of place, water, manure and so on. The health worker will make best efforts to help people find solutions to any challenges.