Ekjut

Ekjut is a not-for-profit voluntary organisation in India. Its name means "together" in several Indian languages. It works with mostly rural, deprived communities in remote districts, and also with urban homeless people and people living in urban slums.

Youtube Video

It organises its work around three themes: Survive, which aims to save the lives of mothers and babies; Thrive, which covers nutrition programmes and crèches; and Transform, which covers work with young people. Its approach is built on community groups led by facilitators it trains, where women discuss maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition and mental health, with the aim of helping marginalised communities take control of their own health.

Major Areas of Work

• Maternal and newborn survival: Work to reduce deaths among mothers and newborns through community women's groups.

• Child nutrition and early childhood care: Nutrition programmes and crèches for young children in poor rural communities.

• Young people: Programmes with adolescents and young people on health, nutrition and leadership.

• Community mental health: Community-based rehabilitation and work on common mental disorders among young people in rural Adivasi communities.

• Urban homeless and slums: Health and support work with homeless people and slum residents in cities.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) women's groups: Monthly community meetings, led by Ekjut-trained facilitators, where women discuss maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition and mental health.

• Crèches: Community crèches for children aged 6 months to 3 years, run as part of its nutrition and early childhood work.

• Sashakt: A programme with girls in Jharkhand that focuses on health, nutrition and leadership.

• PLA for Non-Communicable Diseases: Four-day residential trainings that apply the PLA approach to hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

• Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR): Community mental health work, including orientation sessions with district health services on common mental disorders among young people in Adivasi communities.

Impact

Ekjut states that more than 100,000 women meet every month in groups run by its trained facilitators to discuss maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition and mental health. It says it works in partnership with government, academic institutions, philanthropies and networks.

Ekjut suits people who want to work directly with communities in remote rural, Adivasi and urban poor settings, especially in public health, nutrition, early childhood and mental health. The work combines community facilitation and training with research studies, and the organisation publishes manuals and research through its knowledge hub. Staff work with participatory methods, government health systems and academic partners, and see how programmes run at village level. It is a good fit for public health professionals, community facilitators, trainers and researchers who are comfortable working in remote districts, and it also offers internships.