The Impact of AIF’s Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative

A former fashion designer, Asha Pabla remains actively involved with a number of nonprofit organizations, including the American India Foundation (AIF). Asha Pabla serves on AIF’s Board of Directors and is particularly interested in the organization’s Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative (MANSI).

Through MANSI, AIF provides individuals in rural and impoverished parts of India with the tools they need to identify and manage illnesses related to maternal and infant health. The program also equips villages with sahiyas, or trained health care workers. High-risk cases are deferred to nearby health care facilities while other illnesses are treated in the community to teach individuals how to deal with similar problems in the future.

Since its inception, MANSI has had a major impact on the communities it serves. Newborn weight at birth has increased by nearly 100 percent and both infant and child mortality rates have decreased by more than 26 percent. The neonatal mortality rate is down by nearly one-third, and the number of pregnant women receiving medical attention has nearly doubled.

The states currently being served by MANSI include Uttarakhand, Odisha, and Jharkhand.

Comments

The Traditional Northern Indian Dish Saag Paneer

A respected fashion designer, Asha Tabla has a passion for travel and trying out new types of local foods. Among the regions Asha Tabla has visited are Europe and South Asia, and she has sampled a number of cuisines across India. One of the distinctive dishes of the subcontinent is saag paneer, which originally comes from the Northern Indian state of Punjab and combines spinach with mild cheese. Preparing the dish begins with combining ginger, garlic, and chilies in a blender and puréeing them into paste that is placed in a skillet heated with ghee. After a half minute at medium high, spinach is added along with salt and stirred for a minute. The heat is then reduced to medium low in the pot and covered to retain moisture. After about 15 minutes, the mixture should be soft and creamy. At this point, add garam masala, heavy cream, cayenne, and the paneer and cook it for an additional 15 minutes. Saag paneer is typically served either with fragrant rice or a flat bread suc...

Itzhak Perlman - A Musician Who Sees Charity as a Moral Obligation

An accomplished fashion designer, Asha Pabla has worked for a number of major textile and apparel companies. Recreationally, Asha Pabla maintains a passion for the arts and is especially fond of violinist Itzhak Perlman . Last year, Perlman won the Genesis Prize, an award that recognizes people who have made a major contribution to their professional fields while upholding a dedication to humanitarian service and Jewish values. During his acceptance speech, he talked about growing up in Tel Aviv. Perlman comes from a poor family that struggled to get enough food. He remembers receiving care packages from an aunt living in Toronto, which consisted of fruit cocktail tins, jars of chicken soup, and a few dollars to spend on something fresh. Despite this dire situation, his family continued to give a couple of pennies at a time to the Jewish National Fund. For his family, tzedakah, the moral obligation to give, was a way of life. While Perlman’s situation has changed dramatically since ...

SAYA's Leadership and Identity Development Programs

Asha Pabla is an experienced fashion professional with a passion for art and design. In addition to her design career, Asha Pabla serves as a board member of the South Asian Youth Association (SAYA). One of the main missions of SAYA is identity development. SAYA works with high school-age boys and girls by mentoring them in an environment that reinforces their cultural values and identity while guiding them in the development of healthy mental and physical habits. SAYA helps South Asian youth deal with the unique challenges of life in the United States. SAYA provides a safe space for South Asian youth to interact and support one another as the young people craft their identities in a diverse society. SAYA exposes South Asian youth to guest speakers and opportunities to observe many different work environments. SAYA’s leadership and identity development programs have the goal of developing critical thinking skills and the ability to make sound decisions. SAYA's programs a...

Asha Pabla | Blogger

Search This Blog