Students in Padeng Primary School set up a local system for waste management - making a small step to improve the cleanliness of their school.

With support from Adventures for the Mind, Broadleaf hosted it's first Women's Community Health Festival

In Padang, the nearest health clinic (for those that can afford it) is more than 2 hours each way by foot in Kolbong. Broadleaf improves access to healthcare by utilizing our school health activists in the communities that we work. 

Four year-old Ayush is a student at a Broadleaf school who was able to stay healthy and stay in the classroom this year thanks to a simple but powerful intervention: de-worming tablets.

Nearly half of kids in Darjeeling have suffered from intestinal parasites, contributing to rates of malnutrition that hover around 25%. Years ago a bad dose of medication made Ayush sick. Since then, his mother Saira had been understandably scared to give her son the drugs he needed. But after building a trusting relationship with Broadleaf School Health Activist and community member Satyam, Saira was willing to try again. 

Now Ayush is thriving with the help of regular de-worming and iron supplements.It takes less than ten dollars to de-worm a class of students in Darjeeling – and studies have shown that when children receive deworming tablets, school attendance improves by as much as 20 percent. That’s why New York Times columnist Nick Kristof praised the power of de-worming as a life-saving Christmas gift:

Deworm a child. Or a village of children! One-quarter of people worldwide have worms in their bellies, impairing their nutrition and often leaving them anemic. Children can be dewormed for about 50 cents each, and this leads them to miss less school and earn more as adults. Kids in the American South were dewormed 100 years ago by the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission, leading to large gains in school enrollment and in literacy, and now we can easily and cheaply achieve the same gains worldwide.

Fighting malnutrition is just one way your support for Broadleaf unlocks human potential. By helping kids to practice hygiene, teaching classes on topics like nutrition and mental health, and making direct referrals to medical care, together we can keep students in the classroom and empower them to build brighter futures for their families.

In Broadleaf's holiday gift guide, you can contribute enough deworming medication to deworm all the students in our schools for an entire year. 

You can read the full NY Times piece here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/opinion/sunday/... 

Last year, Namrata’s mother Sweta was alarmed to hear from her daughter’s teachers at Laxmi Memorial School. Namrata had stopped participating in class or playing games during recess. Her energy was low and her mood subdued. Sweta was worried and uncertain where to turn for help. 

Fortunately, Broadleaf School Health Activist Dhiraj had begun to monitor the growth of students in Namrata’s school. Dhiraj confirmed that Namrata’s height and weight had dropped well below the average for girls her age, and connected Namrata with health services including nutrition education and iron supplements.  

Today, Namrata is able to run and play with her friends – and spend her school days focused on learning. Broadleaf’s unique school health model empowers community members to become school-based health educators who work tirelessly to improve the health of children like Namrata. By helping kids to practice hygiene, teaching classes on topics like nutrition and mental health, and making direct referrals to medical care, Broadleaf Health Activists enable children in under-resourced communities to stay in school and thrive.  

Due to malnutrition, 25 percent of school children in the Darjeeling region are underweight for their age. We believe a preventable health condition like this should never be an obstacle to education. When you donate to Broadleaf, we will use your gift to help children like Namrata stay healthy and stay in school.

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disease affecting school aged children in India. Yet, while highly treatable, due to lack of awareness, stigma, and access to healthcare, "epilepsy is more of a life sentence than a medical diagnosis" for children in rural India.