BACKGROUND
Payir Trust in agreement with Perambalur District, is executing the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) to improve nutrition levels of 3227 adolescent girls (+ 79 school dropout children) in 18 government schools (classes 6 to 12) in Alathur block in Perambalur District in TamilNadu, India by providing supplementary nutrition assistance as well as training that facilitates empowerment of the beneficiaries. Another key objective was also to address anemia in this group of school children.
The following report summarizes the activities of Payir during the second quarter of operations.
SUPPLEMENTARY NUTRITION PRODUCTION PROCESS
The supplementary nutrition program was launched in schools on June 29, 2015. Each weekday (excluding school holidays), selected beneficiaries receive two items – a laddoo (nutrient ball), a small bowl of pulses and a serving of dried & sweetened amla. Amla is rich source of Vitamin C that helps in absorption of iron into the body. The target weight for each laddoo is 35 gms and each student is eligible for 70 gms of cooked/steamed pulses and 2 grams of amla each day, providing a total daily calorie requirement of 400 kcals.
Each day, fresh supplements are prepared at Payir’s facilities in Thenur village and transported to all the schools by two small trucks. The supplements are distributed to children between 3:30pm and 5:00pm.
SALIENT FEAURES OF THE PROJECT
- A separate storeroom to keep ingredients fresh and kept pest free
- Daily record keeping of raw materials
- Clean Production Room using hair masks, gloves, particle filters and hygiene training
- Optimized Transportation routes to cover 18 schools and 140 km daily
- Electronic tracking and monitoring of delivery using smart phones
- Efficient distribution at Schools using well trained women staff
- Constant monitoring of quality of the supplements