This week I have been visiting HHI’s training center in Kerala, India. For the last few days, ten pre-school teachers participated in HHI’s education about the importance of early childhood development and they learned how they can best support children’s healthy growth and development during their most critical developmental time. These women work for the government’s ICDS program, which are early childhood development centers that focus heavily on improving nutrition for the villages with the most disadvantaged and high risk children.

And, of course, they enjoyed singing, dancing and playing with the children! They shared their favorite songs and dances with me, then asked me to return the favor. I put on an impressive Hokey Pokey dance, but I allowed no photographic evidence of this, you will just have to trust me!

Some of these women have been working in their jobs for 26 years! But, they were eager for the information from HHI. They appreciated the small and interactive classes, where they were asked to be creative, to talk, to share and to come up with solutions that they face daily with children. They were excited to learn lessons about child development and came to recognize that some of the children in their centers are delayed, but now they knew how to better support them. The women were also enthusiastic to take their lessons learned back to share in their monthly Mother’s Meetings in the villages, where they are the main community resource person for all parents. They left the training with a greater grasp of child development, new tools and information to lead children and their families to success and with a new sense of pride in the importance of their work.

Now, I am off to Tamil Nadu to meet the village mommies taking HHI trainings.