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RMF India Class of 2011

Sponsor a Community Nutrition Educator

November 01, 2010 - India

by Caitlin McQuilling

The Real Medicine India Class of 2011

Announcing the 26 members of the Real Medicine India Class of 2011!  Yesterday all 25 members of the RMF India team who applied were accepted into the year-long Child Health and Nutrition Course at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).  The course officially starts on January 1st, with final exams in December of 2011.

This course is mostly a correspondence course, with classroom sessions and presentations quarterly at the IGNOU campus in Jhabua.  The course focuses on the basics of early childhood development and includes both technical and practical sessions on health and nutrition.  It’s a course geared towards individuals working in the government and NGO sectors and has been well recommended by alumni and faculty.

A generous RMF donor decided to sponsor all 25 staff members to take this course and he got a pretty good deal.  Since this course is subsidized by the Indian government, the fees for tuition, books, instruction, exams, and the final Certificate in Child Health and Nutrition are only 1900 inr per person.  Approximately $40 per person to provide a specialized course in child health and a certificate that can help the women taking this course advance in the future.

We offered this program to all of our staff, but for various reasons not all qualified for the program.  Some staff members were already taking other correspondence courses, so couldn’t handle the extra course load, but most had not finished their 12th grade education, which is a requirement for IGNOU.  None of our staff opted out of the course because they didn’t want more education.

For the staff members who still have to complete their high school education, RMF is also sponsoring them for courses to help them finish their 10th and 12th exams (the equivalent of GED courses in the US).  We’ve promised them this opportunity next year if they can complete their studies.

RMF is committed to helping our staff advance and grow.  Giving our local staff these opportunities not only forwards RMF’s work, but also makes our impact lasting through investing in the people who are going to make a real difference in their communities.

To find out how you can educate a woman in rural India for $40 a year, visit us at http://www.realmedicinefoundation.org/donors or contact Caitlin, the Director of Programs in India at: caitlin.mcquilling@realmedicinefoundation.org

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