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Bhavishya Shakti Mobile Teaching Kitchen in Kolkata:

 

The MTK was launched in India by NNEdPro and its partners in February 2018 in two urban slums of Kolkata. The implementation of the MTK received financial support from the University of Cambridge and the Economic and Social Research Council and on-ground support from the 'Remedy Clinic Study Group' and the 'Inner Wheel Club of Greater Calcutta’.

 

More than 1.5 million people live in 3500 unregistered slums in Kolkata, India. Most of these are temporary with one room per family and no access to proper sanitation or clean water. Cooking is mostly done outdoors due to ventilation and without hygienic practices or facilities.

 

An assessment of levels of nutrition and health education in mothers and children in urban slum areas in the city of Kolkata found that 85% of mothers and children were malnourished - this could be improved with increased nutrition knowledge and support to adopt this into their lives.

 

The MTK’s aim is to be a safe haven within the slums, supporting mothers with limited resources to achieve the best nutrition for their children and families.

 

Education sessions and training have continued regularly since 2018. Since then, the establishment of a micro-enterprise model in Kolkata has allowed the MTK Champions to continue to spread their good, healthy food and associated education of healthy eating, to customers wider than their own community.

 The unprecedented success of the first 3 years of the MTK initiative sparked interest among local organisations in Kolkata that also work towards alleviating malnutrition in deprived communities, and MTK is now being scaled-up in other cities like Punjab and Delhi (India). NNEdPro partnered with Calcutta Rescue in 2021 to maximise the impact and work of MTK in 6 additional slum communities (Bagbazar subdivided into Bagbazar-I & Bagbazar-II, Nimtala, Mechua, Local Bustee, Jyotinagar and Lal Mandir). This collaboration utilises Calcutta Rescue’s established street medicine presence across Kolkata to work towards sustainably reversing stunting and other forms of malnutrition.

MTK in other parts of India

In 2022, NNEdPro has adapted the MTK activities in East Delhi (along with Vertiver) to educate and empower women in nutrition education and build a better future for themselves and their communities. An MTK adaptation has also been rolled out in rural Punjab (Sanghol).

Where are we now?

Education sessions and training have continued regularly since 2018. Since then, the establishment of a micro-enterprise model in Kolkata has allowed the MTK Champions to continue to spread their good, healthy food and associated education of healthy eating, to customers wider than their own community. This aims to sustain the impact of the project, whilst supporting those women trained originally.

 

Currently, the MTK process has been completed and sustained in Kolkata for over 3 years, with the training also completed in Punjab during this time. We are in the process of working with organisations across the globe to establish other MTK interventions and continue to collect data on their impact and publish their work.

 

Our next goal is to sustain these projects, whilst spreading the MTK model far and wide across the globe. 

 

In the meantime, the Kolkata project team adapted to COVID-19 and has provided free meals to isolated members of local slum communities who could not go out to work or buy food due to COVID infection. They provided over 1000 meals to date, with the support ongoing, thanks to local contributions. We are now supporting communities with Calcutta Rescue, who continue to advocate for and provide healthcare services for these marginalised people.

Impact data for the MTK’s current stage

Qualitative:

The SODOTO workshops, which include comprehensive nutrition education, cooking, and hygiene training, have stimulated health behaviour change among communities. The MTK initiative has seen encouraging results in building willingness among communities to try new local food at a low cost and raising awareness. The health messaging aspect of the cooking demonstrations has spread to a larger population, leading to the formation of a microenterprise, enabling the targeted communities and women to transfer nutrition-related knowledge to peers and families while earning an income for themselves.

According to our research, a hands-on interactive approach to teaching people about new nutritious recipes and how to cook is likely the most effective method to get them to not only learn but also internalise what they learned in a way that they will remember and replicate in their own lives. Unlike a typical food truck, the mobile teaching kitchen travels to community festivals, public health events, institutions, office areas, slums, and other public gathering places to provide hands-on nutrition education. The health messaging aspect of this model is both key and innovative and ensures regional and community-sensitive adaptations.

Quantitative data:

 

1) In India, we currently serve 100 healthy meals to the public every day through our MTK programme, facilitating behavioural changes to ensure healthier habits.

2) We have received over 100,000 feedback forms from customers, and the data collected gives us great hope that we are making a difference in our community to make healthier and more nutritious choices.

 

3) During the COVID pandemic, our Champions stepped up and provided free meals to approximately 1,825 homeless people over a three-month period.

 

4) We have expanded our impact to 6 additional slum communities in Kolkata, reaching over 1000 members per month.

 

With enough equipment to allow each stakeholder to have a similar number of interactions, this presents 1.6 million opportunities to pass on knowledge per year, or at least 500,000 interactions per year, clearly demonstrating the potential ripple effect of this knowledge and skill exchange. 

 

With further scalability of the model within India and other countries such as Mexico and the US, we are hoping to achieve a mass escalation of the number of vulnerable groups being positively impacted by the project.

project team

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All Members

 

  • Alakananda Ghosh

  • Ananya (Ria) Roy

  • Anumati Sardar

  • Aparajita Saha

  • Asim Kumar Manna

  • Chandana Naiya

  • Chitra Ray

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • Debotriya Chowdhury

  • Luke Buckner

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • Harjinder Singh

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur

  • Harrison Carter

  • Ianthi Tsimpli

  • Jaydeep Chakraborty

  • Kanika Das

  • Kannan Raman

  • Kashmira Ghosh

  • Lord Diljit Rana

  • Mala Mukherjee

  • Marjorie Lima do Vale

  • Matheus Abrantes

  • Mausumi Naiya

  • Minha Rajput-Ray

  • Mitali Gupta

  • Mitali Palodhi

  • Mrityunajay Dolui

  • Pallavi Bardhar

  • Pauline Douglas

  • Priyanka Gupta

  • Puja Purkait

  • Pradip Guha

  • Sabyasachi Ray

  • Sagarika Mukherjee

  • Sarah Armes

  • Sarmila Mukherjee

  • Somnath Bhar

  • Subrata Kumar Dutta 

  • Sucheta Mitra

  • Sudeshna Maitra Nag

  • Sukla Karmakar

  • Sumantra (Shumone) Ray

  • Suprakash Pradhan

  • Taruna Narang

  • Urmil Verma

  • Wanja Nyaga

 

BSCS Governing Body

 

  • President – Chitra Ray

  • Vice Presidents – Mitali Gupta and Mala Mukherjee

  • General Secretary – Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • Joint Secretary – Asim Kumar Manna

  • Assistant Joint Secretary – Kanika Das

  • Treasurer – Debashis Chakraborty

 

Members

  • Anumati Sardar

  • Chandana Naiya

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur – Operations and Academic officer, NNEdPro

  • Kannan Raman – NNEdPro India & South Asia Regional Network Co-Lead

  • Kashmira Ghosh

  • Luke Buckner – NNEdPro Assistant Director

  • Madhumita Pal – The Nurture Academy Welfare Trust

  • Puja Purkait

  • Sabyasachi Ray – RCSG President

  • Sarmila Mukherjee

  • Saundaria Chatterjee – The Nurture Academy Welfare Trust

  • Sucheta Mitra – NNEdPro Senior Operations Officer

  • Sukla Karmakar

  • Sumantra (Shumone) Ray – NNEdPro Executive Director

  • Suprakash Pradhan – The Nurture Academy Welfare Trust

  • Ramya Rajaram – NNEdPro India South-East Asia Network Deputy Lead

 

Trainee Champions

  • Madhumita Dey

  • Moumita Biswas

  • Tapasi Patra

 

BSCS Global Teams

 

Global Advisory

  • Harrison Carter (NHS England)

  • Ianthi Tsimpli (University of Cambridge)

  • James Bryant (Social Sciences and Digital Policy)

  • Jaroslav Guzanic (Switzerland Regional Network)

  • Kai Kargbo (US and Pan-Africa Regional Networks)

  • Lord Diljit Rana (Lord Rana Charitable Foundation Trust)

  • Marjorie Lima do Vale (Brazil Regional Network)

  • Mercedes Zorrilla Tejeda (Mexico Regional Network)

  • Minha Rajput-Ray (Non-Executive Medical Director)

  • Pauline Douglas (Operations/Education Director)

  • Shivani Bhat (Canada Regional Network)

  • Ville Paivansalo (University of Helsinki)

 

Project and Data Management

  • Asim Kumar Manna

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur

  • Kannan Raman

  • Luke Buckner

  • Dr Ramya Rajaram

  • Sucheta Mitra

  • Sumantra (Shumone) Ray

 

Research and Development

  • Asim Kumar Manna

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur

  • Jodie Webber

  • Luke Buckner

  • Shilpa Nagarajan

  • Sucheta Mitra

  • Sumantra (Shumone) Ray

  • Wanja Nyaga

 

Cook Book Team

  • Chitra Ray

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • Mitali Gupta

  • Pallavi Bardhar

  • Sarah Armes

  • Sudeshna Maitra Nag

 

Finance and Enterprise

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • Kannan Raman

  • Matheus Abrantes

  • Mitali Gupta

  • Dr Ramya Rajaram

  • Sabyasachi Ray

  • Sucheta Mitra

  • Sumantra (Shumone) Ray

 

BSCS Regional Teams

 

Regional Advisory

  • Alakananda Ghosh (Calcutta Rescue)

  • Aparajita Saha (Dietitian)

  • Jaydeep Chakraborty (Calcutta Rescue)

  • Mitali Palodhi (Dietitian)

  • Pallavi Bardhar (Nutritionist)

  • Sabyasachi Ray (Remedy Clinic Study Group)

  • Sagarika Mukherjee (Remedy Clinic Study Group)

  • Somnath Bhar (Remedy Clinic Study Group)

  • Subrata Kumar Dutta (Independent Consultant)

  • Sudeshna Maitra-Nag (Remedy Clinic Study Group)

  • Urmil Verma (Lord Rana Charitable Foundation Trust)

 

BSCS Pilots (Delhi and Punjab)

  • Anamika Ghosh (Vertiver, Delhi)

  • Harjinder Singh (Cordia, Punjab)

  • Tanya Jaswal (Vertiver, Delhi)

  • Taruna Narang (Cordia, Punjab)

BSCS Kolkata Teams

 

Implementation & Outreach

  • Asim Manna

  • Chitra Ray

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur

  • Mala Mukherjee

  • Mitali Gupta

 

Champions Group

  • Anumati Sardar

  • Asim Kumar Manna

  • Chandana Naiya

  • Chitra Ray

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur

  • Kanika Das

  • Mitali Gupta

  • Mousami Naiya*

  • Puja Purkait

  • Sukla Karmakar**

 

Trainee Champions

  • Madhumita Dey

  • Moumita Biswas

  • Tapasi Patra

*Temporarily change of role     

 **On maternity leave

We would like to acknowledge the work of our retired Champion, Shyamoli Mondal

 

Educational Supervisors

  • Chitra Ray

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • Mitali Gupta

 

Volunteers & Consultative

  • Anumati Sardar

  • Asim Kumar Manna

  • Chandana Naiya

  • Chitra Ray

  • Debashis Chakraborty

  • Elizabeth Suchitra Richard

  • ***Harmanpreet Kaur

  • Kanika Das

  • Kashmira Ghosh

  • Mala Mukherjee

  • Mausumi Naiya

  • Mitali Gupta

  • Sudeshna Maitra Nag

  • Pallavi Bardhar

  • Puja Purkait

  • Dr Ramya Rajaram

  • Sarmila Mukherjee

  • Sukla Karmakar

 

Support

  • Mrityunajay Dolui

  • Pradip Guha

Little Literacy Library, C/O BSCS, in partnership with Friend's Forever Group*

Chetla Library

  • Mahua Chakraborty - Library Assistant

  • Shyamali Mondal - Library Support staff

 

R.G.Kar Library

  • Sanusree Sardar- Library Assistant

  • Mousami Naiya- Volunteer Library Assistant

***From May 24, 2024, Harmanpreet has successfully taken on a substantive role at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and continues to collaborate with NNEdPro in a voluntary officer role.

BHAVISHYA SHAKTI CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

We have prepared an information leaflet highlighting the vitamins and minerals included in our meals 

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Governing body
Global team
Regional teams
Kolkata teams
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