It was a very useful interaction with the team at the children's creche here. Would like to use the idea of hand-washing station with vegetable plot. More of my friends should also learn.

The stall on model crèche for kids from 6 months to 3 years is a very good effort to bring the attention of all sections of people and the policy makers to take into consideration the importance of nutrition support to that age of children.

I have seen the Ekjut organization's stall at Ranchi. It is very nice to see what they are doing. This programme should be continuously run by the NGO at village level as it is very necessary for the parents in the villages as they will get benefit for their children in terms of education, attitude and mind development. I wish it best of luck.

Very good initiative. It is so wonderful to see how Ekjut has made the concept a reality - suitable and relevant from the local, cultural and geographical contexts. Congratulations,

Wonderful concept! Just what we have been discussing with women farmers in Phek District, Nagaland.
Keep Sharing. Thanks a lot

Comments on the Crèche model by visitors - Right to Food Campaign,

How wonderful to finally see where Judith had been coming for all these years. Thank you for sharing your work with us. You are doing something really amazing here! Thank you also for allowing Jessie to come and work with you this week. We look forward to bringing the whole family with us next time.
Best Wishes

It was a great learning experience for us. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to interact with the facilitators and attend the PLA meeting. Looking forward to work with the committed team of Ekjut…. Findings of the trial of improved engagement of the most marginalized are very crucial and indicate the possibility of reaching the unreached.
Thanks and regards,

Attending a group meeting in the community is always a huge learning process. One comes to know about the success of your interaction skills quite immediately. It was a great experience to see how people gathered in a short while. The group leader could initiate the discussion, persuade about taking part in the conversation. 1-2 women were almost the key respondents in the group. Having passive participation is equally important as people do engage themselves in the subject if not immediately later, so I feel such meetings are very meaningful. I personally appreciate the skills and ease the group facilitators have and wish your entire team all the very best in all your initiatives. .
Thank you for this opportunity and hospitality.

Thank you for enabling me to observe your community group discussing early childhood development. I saw all members of the community engage from those who were just learning to walk to grandmothers and grandfathers. I saw young children learning about social interaction through observation and demonstrating their interest in homemade toys provided – sometimes their curiosity drove them to overcome their shyness and they stepped into the centre of the group to grab the toys before retreating to their parents – what better proof of their interest in engaging with the stimulation offered could those observing have. Everyone participated, people seemed comfortable. Those coming back from work stopped to join in.
Many thanks for letting me observe.

It was really an excellent exposure for me as a learner. The work of Ekjut is much appreciable and the bonding they develop with the community was altogether interesting. The balance between crèche and PLA is really maintained nicely.

Many thanks to the Ekjut team to organise such a great learning visit for team RGMVP. You people have really developed a community-friendly participative tool, while interacting with community members. Keep doing the great work.
All the best.

Have had opportunity to work with Ekjut before but could only see and experience the PLA power first time. The work of Ekjut embodies the principles of community mobilization and the sensitivity through which it approaches community problem is learning for everybody.
Kudos to the Ekjut team and community facilitators.

We had heard many good things about Ekjut earlier especially from my PHFI colleagues. Your PLA approach was an eye opener and of course this reinforced my belief on story-telling approach to communicate effectively. More importantly dedication of Ekjut employees, their sincerity and values shines through all interactions which is really a precious gift and achievement. Lot of organisations have recognised you already and I am sure many more are in the offering.
In the end I would just like to say, you have got one more votary of the Ekjut way.

Thank you to the entire Ekjut team for all your time and effort in arranging a truly fantastic visit. It was great to see the work and remarkable impact you have. It’s rare to see organisations that bring such passion to helping those that need it with a matching passion for a scientific approach and analysis.

Ekjut,
what a wonderful organisation and team of people. Research led and impact driven. Focused on the mother, adolescent and child in a holistic way. Selecting a combination of interventions which are improving lives in measurable and demonstrative ways. Congratulations!
Please continue on your path.

It was a wonderful and inspiring experience to spend two days with Ekjutand especially to see the lively and well-managed crèches. Thank you for your hospitality and overwhelming kindness.
All the best.

Dear Ekjut team,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such an amazing education over the last two days. As someone aspiring to be in public health, this could not have been more timely or more inspiring. I appreciate the exposure to public healthcare systems that leave much to room for improvement, but it was so encouraging to see with dedication and a little (or a lot!) ingenuity, how much can be accomplished. I was especially impressed by the local crèches – where the caregivers were lovely and children seemed alert and happy in a stark contrast to the government run anganwadi. I sat amazed watching the beautiful film- these village women are amazing and astounding in their resourcefulness. I hope to do my part in getting the word out and contribute in your mission in however way possible.
Thanks again.

Ekjut model has always been a model about which i had read in many journals and papers, but visiting Ekjut office and the field gave me a much more enriching experience. I have learned a lot which I plan to implement in our project in Bihar. The learning was wholesome in terms of community processes and evidence documentation. In a nutshell it was the ‘visit of the year.’
Thanks for your hospitality and congratulations for the great work!

Dear Dr.Prasanta & Dr.Nirmala,
As a practioner in development sector, the interactions with you both and the team were really inspiring. It gave me lot of confidence to move aggressively with the approach Ekjut is working on.
Looking forward for more learning!

We thank you for your warm hospitality and the wonderful opportunity you provided to meet your team and get a firsthand account of your interactions. We had heard a lot about Ekjut and were looking forward to this visit. It’s been a wonderful experience. We could get a lot of insights into the PLA model that you have been pursuing with such commitment and enthusiasm.
Hope to be here very often.

Dear Ekjut team,
We are very thankful to all of you for your great hospitality, arrangements, field visits and co-operation. This is our first visit to the state of Jharkhand. It was a great experience and we learnt a lot about the PLA meetings and techniques which are useful for effective field work.
Thank you.

Ekjut as an NGO and through its integrated research process has involved communities and government schemes for effective implementation and educate the beneficiaries about the available services. The involvement of staff members at ground level / frontline are commendable and we wish Ekjut all the best in their upcoming projects and research work for the right cause.

Thank you very much for a very warm welcome as well as for organising an extremely insightful visit. It is inspiring to see not only the great work you are doing, but the passion and commitment the team has for everything they do. Look forward to being in touch.

After all these years I finally visited my friends at Ekjut. It was worth the wait, although the wait should not have been so long! I have enjoyed being included in discussions of the new project and know it will be a success (in many ways). I love the ethos of the organisation and the ways it shows in many small things. A lot of thinking goes on here and the team are good people, as well as being smart.
See you all soon and love.

It has been a wonderful experience having come here. The interactions have been rich and there is a lot that I take back. While I have been part of and witnessed many training/capacity building processes, the concept of building the ability of problem solving through community interactions via the PLA method appears as an interesting and effective way of reaching out. I do hope to come back and be part of some of the meetings and look forward to hopefully a longer association.
Thanks for the good time!

It was a very useful interaction with the team at the children's creche here. Would like to use the idea of hand-washing station with vegetable plot. More of my friends should also learn.

Thank you for the very valuable 2 weeks I have had here. From my first day interaction with Soumya about early childhood development, to the opportunity to visit a women’s group meeting, hearing about Ekjut’s last 10 years of work from Dr.Nirmala, testing the food security questionnaire with Soumen Ji and Nibha Didi, visiting the crèches with Sumitra Didi, and speaking with Dr.Prasanta about his work and experiences, I have had such a lot of fantastic and interesting exposure for which I would like to say a big thank you.
Thank you also to Dilip Bhai and Gyaneshwar Bhai for being so lovely and hospitable. I have had a very memorable experience with Ekjut and in CKP, and I wish you all the very best in the large variety of interesting work you are all involved in, and for which I have enormous respect.
Many thanks again.

Dear Ekjut team,
It’s been a pleasure collaborating with all of you on the CARING Project. Hope it turns out well! Thanks for your hospitality. I really enjoyed my stay in CKP.
All the best.

Impressed by the Ekjut model of community mobilisation on health and nutrition issues to reduce neonatal and maternal mortality. The model has the potential to evolve and scale up across the state with Sahiyas and Anganwadi workers.
All the best.

Dear Ekjut team,
This is to express my gratitude for a very productive and educational visit. Ofcourse your warmth and transparency made me feel very welcome but most powerful was the deep commitment to execution and evidence that was palpable across all levels of the team from the senior leadership to the facilitators. I would have loved to spend more time, particularly in the field, but whatever I saw lead me to believe that the platform created through Ekjut’s work is worthy of diffusion across India’s least served geographies. I also want to commend the focus on data and evidence - you had analysis available for almost everything I requested. This is so refreshing to note in a sector where the discourse can often be guided by anecdote and “impressions”. It was great to be around when news came of the Jharkhand NRHM approving the ASHA scale up plan. I hope this and future projects down the road will help magnify the already impressive outcomes your work has achieved.
I wish your communities and your team members all the very best.

I have only spent a few days meeting the team and the community and getting to know a little about Ekjut’s work. I have been impressed by the energy, motivation and dedication that goes into the work and know this is a big reason for the incredible success Ekjut has achieved. I have learned a lot in the short time I have been here but know there is more to learn and hope to have the opportunity to visit again. The visit has inspired me. Thank you to everyone for welcoming me and sharing all your thoughts and inspirations. I hope to welcome you one day in our office in London.
In the meantime, all the best with the work in hand.

Thank you so much for setting time aside during our visit to your project. Heather (West) and I have been so impressed with the monitoring and evaluation systems that you have in place. We were also very impressed with your finance processes. We will forever remember our visit and specifically how committed everyone at Ekjut is.
Once again Thank you.

When colleagues from Dhingri(MP) came to a workshop in Ranchi and expressed a desire to learn from experiences here, I was certain Ekjut’s work would be an enriching experience. I don’t know when Ekjut took a formal institutional form but the progress in nearly 7 years of field interventions is impressive. The thought invested in designing intervention within rigorous requirement of a research intended to validate efficacy of the model itself, that too from inception is really great and inspiring. The care taken of the team, the coordination of logistics was also very good.

My best wishes to your endeavours.

It has been an absolute pleasure as well as privilege to experience the wonderful work of Ekjut. The key features of their work as I felt are a programme rooted in the needs of the community, involving and empowering the communities to find the solutions, and the addition of research methods to document the process and outcome. Needless to say that the friends of Ekjut working in the neediest of the areas with some of the most deprived communities, making change through grass root women’s empowerment is an inspirational example. Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity and your warm welcome..

Dear Ekjut team,
It was one of a kind experience for me to see the phenomenal work that Ekjut has done in Jharkhand and Orissa. Ekjut has tested a value (community empowerment) using a scientific method (cluster randomised controlled trial). The work of Ekjut is immensely motivational for me and demonstrates enormous community level strength that we have in rural India. I want to sincerely thank each Ekjut member for their hospitality and taking time off from their busy schedule to provide information about the work of Ekjut. I wish the Ekjut team the very best for their future work.
I also want to invite Ekjut team to visit SEARCH.

Ekjut is doing an excellent job as a partner of Intra Health Vistaar Project. Their achievements in the different indicators related to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clearly reflects their hard work and strategic efforts. I wish them success in their future endeavors.

By visiting Ekjut we have got an opportunity to learn many things like team spirit and exploring new ideas rather than repeating the previous ones. The staff is very authentic to their jobs and supportive towards new ideas. The hospitality was remarkable which makes us want to visit again.
Kuddus

Dear Ekjut team,
I cannot thank you all enough for taking out time to explain many of the unseen facets of how your trial has made such a difference. So, I am now more enamoured with the model than I was before. The answer is simple and straight forward, but yes, this has reinforced my belief that community empowerment (and individual) is key to any change. My biggest take-home message is that I will need to take bigger efforts to debate and discuss these issues. This I believe will increase our understanding and help us improvise and accommodate changes in the work that we are involved in.
Thanks again.

Dear Ekjut team,
I cannot thank you all enough for taking out time to explain many of the unseen facets of how your trial has made such a difference. So, I am now more enamoured with the model than I was before. The answer is simple and straight forward, but yes, this has reinforced my belief that community empowerment (and individual) is key to any change. My biggest take-home message is that I will need to take bigger efforts to debate and discuss these issues. This I believe will increase our understanding and help us improvise and accommodate changes in the work that we are involved in.
Thanks again.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the quarterly progress review to learn more about your work in MNCHN. I appreciate yopur dedication and willingness to learn and improve. Together we will have some great results and important lessons to share!

It was my pleasure to visit Ekjut in Chakradharpur and meeting Dr. Prasanta and Dr. Nirmala.
They are doing exemplary work towards reducing neo-natal mortality. I found their approach of engaging with women groups vey novel. Their work is scientific and has been published in The Lancet. I am impressed of their way of getting acknowledgement through publications. I wish them all success and hope to work with them in the future.

Absolutely amazing! It was a wonderful experience to be with the Ekjut Team. Excellent team work that I had ever experienced. Organization is not only working for/with the community............but... making it's impact much beyond that .............
A big thank you to every one !!!

We are on an exposure visit to Ekjut. The experience was very enriching. I am especially impressed by the communication process. Another factor which is very appreciable is capacity development of the Facilitator. Sumitra is just fantastic!
Wish you all the best.

Thank you so much for the wonderful hospitality. The warmth, energy and organisation of Ekjut match the very high standards that Audrey always describes so fondly.

It is indeed very heartening to find Ekjut which has moved much ahead by several strides in a short span of 6-7 years. It has broken the conventional style of NGO functioning- working with community in a rural set up.
This is commendable that Ekjut team have been engaged very passionately in the community mobilisation process in real practice and have been able to reassure the health development fraternity that not only newborn mortality rates but other indicators can also be improved through a community mobilisation process.
It was just a 2 days short visit and I wish I could spend few more days with the team to recharge myself. I am overwhelmed with the Ekjut environment and the smile of contentment and simplicity of each and every member staff including a 2 year old baby who comes to the office with her mother.
I am truly touched by all this. I wish the very best to all the members.
Thank you for your warm hospitality.

Warmest regard,

Your work in trying to take maternal and newborn care to scale is fascinating. I like your approach in helping the government and trying to hold them accountable for quality of care.
Many thanks!

My time here has been absolutely fabulous and fascinating. I thank you all at Ekjut. Although my research is only looking related to you, you all have been so giving of your time, efforts and friendship. The way you work here is an inspiration. My work would not have been possible at all without your direction and I am so grateful for it. I hope to be able to do justice to it all through my work.
I also hope that if any of you come to London, you will please look me up! I have really enjoyed meeting you all and my experience here has been amazing. I thank you all so much and look forward to meeting you again.
All the best.

"We appreciate your dedication and excellent work to improve MNCHN through the use of data, reaching out to the most vulnerable and supporting the government system. It is a great pleasure to work with your Ekjut team."

It was a good learning experience to interact with the entire team. The level of discussions were very in-depth and informative. The team is very interactive, works with lot of passion and has clarity about work.
All the best for future to the team.

"....It is visits like these that broaden one's perspective. I am really happy that I could make it despite the searing heat. I too was impresed by the work Ekjut is doing and more so by the fact that the key component is togetherness and inclusion.
Thank you for your warm hospitality.
Best,

"...While Searching the Pubmed fo Neonatal Mortality saw u'r recent publication in Lancet. It's definitely a big success story and we feel very happy and proud for "Ekjut". Congratulations"

"It's a pleasure to be associated with such a well managed and well governed organisation. The high level of ethics and integrity are setting benchmarks for the industry. Dr Tripathy & his team are extremely competent too. Wishing Ekjut all the best in its work".

We are on a exposure visist to ekjut. The experience was very enriching. I am specially impressed with communitisation process, another factor which is worth appreciating is the capacity of the facilitator. Sumitra is just fantastic!
Wish you all the best ekjut.

I had a wonderful stay. Ekjut has an amazing team of committed and talented staff. Thank you Prasanta and Nirmala, and all the team for making me so welcome and teaching me so much. I look forward to coming back soon and contribute to ekjuts great work.
Wonderful work you are doing here. I here to comeback soon and can write better about all I experienced and learned with short time.…

Thank you Ekjut for everything! My time here will always be cherished. I admire your dedication, love and compassion for human kind and the determination to improve the lives and health of women and children. I wish everyone the very best and you will remain in my thoughts and prayers forever! I especially would like to thank Nirmala and Prasanta for hosting me and loving me like parents. Your love and kindness will always be remembered.
Thank you for teaching me about MDGs, appreciative Inquiry, leadership and for providing me the opportunity to grow professionally as well as personally.
It is difficult to say goodbye, so rather I will say... until we meet again.
With gratitude, appreciation and love,

The best thing about Ekjut's work is that it doesn't make people dependant. It is creating awareness amongst the rural women so that they can identify the problems at the earliest and take crucial decisions themselves.
During those two months when I was with Ekjut, I gained a lot on the personal front as well. Ekjut acted as a window to the professional world I was going to enter soon. That made the transition smooth. It gave me exposure to an international dissemination that was held at Ranchi, where I heard so many people; all experts in their own fields, from different parts of the world speak....

To all the staff at ekjut,
Thank you for making us so welcome during our time with you. We had a great time and will remember our elective with great memories.
Your work was a breath of fresh air to our somewhat. uninspiring medical degree! I hope to come back ( money depending) and see Ekjut with all of your “seeds” as fully grown, successful projects,
Thank you once again,

Many thanks to all of you, for everything ! It was great to meet you all, You’ve been all been kind to us. The atmosphere of ekjut is really positive and you all seem care very much about the work you do.....
Thanks ekjut!

It was wonderful meeting you and spending some time around to know your work.
My journey back home was ok without delays and hurdles. I had more chance to interact with your team members Rajkumar and Rajendra on my way back to Ranchi and it helped me to know more about EKJUT. I Appreciate your efforts and way of working . The discussions with the team members certainly reflected your leadership and abilities to put them all together with commitment and enthusiasm.
Your work is very interesting and I am sure is making much desired impact. We will certainly find opportunities to work together and make best use of each other's strength. I will put together some thoughts about the possible areas of collaboration after discussions with our team

Ekjut !
Your ideas offer promise and hope to the tribal people of this area.—as well as others who come in to contact with the organization.
It’s truly Grassroots and is following the needs of the people. Keeping it simple and starting small will allow you to be flexible and responsive.
An exciting project is beginning to unfold. Count me in as a supporter.

This is Anthony and Sarah calling from Bangladesh to thank you profusely for such wonderful hospitality in Chakradurpur, and for such stimulating discussion and debate about the work in the project. The trial is going to be very important in guiding policy in India.

LEAD's hopes for a better world depend solely on the vision, energy and commitment of individuals such as the leaders of Ekjut, who have our admiration and full support. Congratulations to the entire Ekjut team for an excellent year and all good wishes for continued courage, good spirit and success in the coming years.

“I’ve known “ekjut” since it was a tiny seed of an idea. I saw the seed germinate and become a registered organization with the backing and involvement of so many able people. And when the seed became a seedling it was transplanted into the soil of Pansua village by my courageous friends. Today the preparatory phase is almost done two years after registration, an ambitious new project is under way, which will help to lay the foundations of a better life for thousands of tribal and their families in this beautiful remote region. I am proud to have had an association with this principled, respectful work and happy to see the process of betterment is now inevitable. With love and admiration."

I have spoken to everyone here about EKJUT and showed them the photographs that Sarah took and they were all fascinated by Jharkhand and your project...they are all inviting you to come and visit when you can... I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for making me feel so welcome on my trip and for teaching me so much. learnt a huge amount from you all and truly enjoyed our discussions - I am more than happy to receive emails with any queries you have, any information you need or any news of your project...please email me whenever you need but please excuse me if it takes some time to reply but the telephones here are very temperamental...I will reply as quickly as I can...........................Please keep in contact and let me know if you need any more information about these issues or anything else...I hope that I will be able to visit again soon and Sonia is very jealous of my trip so I hope she will come as well... Please pass on my best wishes to everyone in the project and keep in touch... I have to go now and reply to my 100 other emails that I have received but been unable to reply to... take care,