Foundation for Mother and Child Health
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About Us

News and Project Updates

Three smiling facesThe Foundation for Mother and Child Health (FMCH) started its first programmes in Jakarta in 2001. Opening a mother-and-child centre, it provided health, nutrition, education and sustainable skills training programmes for mothers, children and community health workers. Now also providing a mobile health education and small skills training unit that visit other areas within Jakarta, and expanding its programmes to other remote areas of Indonesia such as West Timor, FMCH has established a very successful presence in this country.

In May 2004, Barbara Jayson, Chairwoman of the Foundation for Mother and Child Health, was awarded an MBE for her work in Indonesia.

To learn more about the Foundation for Mother and Child Health, and their local partner Yayasan Balita Sehat, please click here.

In December 2004, the world witnessed the effect of the devastating tsunami in Asia. In response to this disaster, Barbara Jayson, one of the Founding members of FMCH, and her colleague Jenny de Montfort put together a book of recipes donated from well known chefs, cooks and food & wine writers in order to raise funds to help victims of the disaster.

East Meets West cookbookEast Meets West became a best seller and won a Special Award of the Jury by the World Gourmand Cookery Book Awards in May 2006.

Funds raised from sales of East Meets West were used to help victims in Sri Lanka and Aceh. In Aceh, proceeds helped the initiative ‘Response to Aceh’ set up preschools in refugee camps, train preschool teachers and community health workers and provided much needed guidance to communities devastated by the tsunami. UNICEF’s long term maternal and child health programmes in Aceh also benefited from funds received from “East meets West”.

Now, with the devastation recently caused by the earthquake in Western Sumatra, the last few remaining books are being sold to raise funds to help with the rebuilding of pre schools in this region.

In 2005, Leena Godiwala-Deubet, a former volunteer with the FMCH mother-and-child centre in Jakarta, moved back to her home city of Mumbai in India. Having witnessed the positive influence the centre was having upon the lives of impoverished mothers and children in Jakarta, she decided to open a branch of the Foundation for Mother and Child Health in Mumbai.

The Foundation for Mother and Child Health, India (FMCHI) or Bal Sehat Kendra as it is known locally, aims to improve pre and post natal care through health, hygiene and nutrition programmes, improve the health and nutrition of infants and children below 5 years of age and educate children through a tri-lingual preschool in English, Marathi and Hindi.

For further details on the activities of the Foundation for Mother and Child Health, India please click here.

In 2008 FMCH started developing programmes that focused on the provision of skills training for refugee women living in Azerbaijan. Women from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Chechnya all have the opportunity to learn new skills such as quilting, pattern making and computing; join micro finance schemes enabling them to become self sufficient and in the next few months mathematics classes are due to begin for those women who missed basic education through war or for political reasons.

The Foundation for Mother and Child Health is a registered UK charity no 1117795 and a private company limited by guarantee no. 05765489 Our Trustees all work on a voluntary basis - only local staff based in Indonesia, India and Azerbaijan receive remuneration. We do not pay for expensive offices in the UK or have expensive marketing and fundraising appeals.

All our donations come from word of mouth, direct appeals, and most importantly, from people such as yourself, looking at this website.

Please help us to keep it this way.

 

UK registered charity number 1117795
UK Company no. 05765489

Board of Trustees:
Barbara Jayson, MBE, Chairwoman
Ilse Johnson: Company Secretary
Rosie Penrhyn Jones, SRN: Grants Manager
Julia Lalla-Maharajh: Communications
Kate Compton
Mona Hodgetts

Regional Managers:
Asih Puji Rahayu - Indonesia
Leena Godiwala Deubet – Mumbai

We have a number of professional consultants who support the Foundation by providing expert advice on a voluntary basis. All but one of our Trustees and professional consultants have lived and worked in developing countries and have witnessed at first hand the effects that poverty and undernutrition can wreak on the lives of young children.

Doctor:
Dr Trevino Pakasi MD

Nutrition Consultant:
Jacquie Birt MSc

Maternal and Child Health Consultant:
Deborah Taylor RGN, RGM, HV

We are all committed to help alleviate the suffering caused by poor education, poverty, bad sanitation, unemployment and unclean water.

We hope you too will help us to help children have a future.

Click here if you wish to contact us or help by making a donation.

Teaching program in India

 

 

 

 

 

pictures of FMCH clients

The Foundation for Mother and Child Health
contact@fmch.co.uk

© 2002-2009 The Foundation for Mother and Child Health www.motherandchildhealth.org