Opportunity International supports a training program in conjunction with Healing Fields Foundation to create Community Health Leaders in India.  Health leaders complete six months of classroom training and a 6-month internship to learn how to identify and address health issues in their community. Water, sanitation and renewable energy are important components of the training. Each leader is able to educate at least 250 households over the course of training.  Overall, more than 3,000 health leaders have provided hygiene, nutrition, illness prevention and other health education to nearly 700,000 families. We’re also encouraging the Community Health Leaders to develop health-related businesses to generate income for them and their families.

To expand and improve our program, our partner Healing Fields and Stanford Emergency Medicine Department will conduct a 2-year pilot and research collaboration program. The research pilot is focused on delivering enhanced Basic Care Provider Program training, which occurs subsequent to the completion of the one-year Community Health Leader training, in some of the most impoverished villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where approximately 80% of people live in rural areas and 40% live below the poverty line.

We’re excited to partner with experts in global development and are delighted to see our partners collaborate with one of the world's leading research universities to invest in education to drive social change and improve the health of people living on less than $2 a day. 

If you’re interested in empowering women in India as Community Health Leaders, contact me at [email protected].

Learn more about Community Health Leaders in India