Making Us Visible (MUV)

Solution name.

Making Us Visible (MUV)

Provide a one-line summary of your solution.

A culturally appropriate maternal and child care handbook, a scientifically proven self-care tool to reach marginalized indigenous mothers and their children in Bangladesh for ensuring their safe motherhood and childhood.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

Infant and child mortality rates are still high and poor maternal health remains a challenge in a conflict-affected place called the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh, where healthcare is difficult to access. The CHT is home to more than 15 historically marginalized Indigenous communities. The CHT region still has the highest infant mortality rates in the country, “standing at 63 deaths per 1,000 live births, against the national average of 49 deaths per 1,000 births. Under Five mortality rates are 85 deaths per 1,000 in the CHT, compared with a rate of 64 deaths per 1,000 nationally”. Indigenous communities in Bangladesh are the most underprivileged ones in the country, and they have been dealing with serious mistreatment for many decades, including not being able to study in own languages, different systemic health disparities, sexual violence against indigenous women and girls, eviction from ancestral lands and cultural exploitation, etc. These have resulted in chronic poverty, generational trauma, and limited access to quality education, healthcare, and to own ancestral lands. These people have the lowest literacy rates, the highest rates of malaria-related deaths, the highest rates of pregnancy, and newborn mortality, the highest diarrheal deaths, and higher rates of anemia and malnutrition. Many indigenous communities live in remote areas of the CHT, where nearby medical facilities (if available) are often under-equipped and understaffed or not even available within 30-50 miles.

Elevator pitch

What is your solution?

Our motto is “Inform, Educate & Empower” by creating mass awareness in the community and root level where community volunteers will be trained on using the MCH book, will participate to provide health information, and educate the girls and mothers. The MCH handbook is a printed health information book and a self-care tool that can be used at home by everyone. We also aim to develop a mobile application and translate the book into more than 15 indigenous languages to eliminate the language barrier. We focus on social inclusion by incorporating traditional knowledge and technology. The mobile application will contain information on mental health management for mothers and animations on indigenous children’s stories and folktales. Through exposing their own language and culture, indigenous children will be raised in the wisdom, knowledge, and love of their ancestors, which results in thriving mental health, which improves academic performance, self-esteem, and socioeconomic success.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our solution will serve nearly one million historically marginalized indigenous communities living in Bangladesh. Indigenous women experience twofold discrimination due to their ethnic and gender identities, and they experience significant inequities in accessing healthcare services, including indigenous-focused health intervention programs. The maternal and child handbook (MCH), we will develop will focus on integrating intercultural healthcare approaches that will help to reduce such inequities and inequalities for pregnant indigenous women, children, and their families. Indigenous women’s poor experiences of accessing healthcare services have been contributing to this group having the worst health outcomes in Bangladesh. This book will endorse the human security approach, enabling individuals and communities to have more control over their own health and ensuring the quality of lives of mothers, children, and families. This book will help indigenous mothers to be better decision-makers about their children's health and nutrition, which will enhance marginalized indigenous people's general health in Bangladesh.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

We are working under the guidance of Prof. Shafi Bhuiyan PhD MBBS, MPH, MBA, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada.  He is advising us for the  MCH Handbook content development support along with his global research team & International committee on the MCH handbook.

Our project is being coordinated by Rani Ukhengching Marma, ceremonial queen (Rani) for the Indigenous community of Mong Circle (Khagrachhari District) Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). She brings more than six years of engagement experience in an Indigenous setting and has been working intensively with the goal of improving the lives of underprivileged groups, with an emphasis on youth empowerment, education equity, community participation, and indigenous health. She was nominated as a finalist for Commonwealth Youth Award in 2017 for her steadfast public service. She also coordinated the project “Learning English Pathway to Progress” successfully funded by the U.S. Department of State to develop English skills among 300 minority Indigenous students from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh to improve their academic performance while reinforcing the benefit of strong English language skills in the globalized economy.

 We will collaborate with Mong Circle Chief’s office, a traditional govt institution of indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, govt hospitals and local indigenous student organizations.

 We have a strong connection to the indigenous people, a dedicated group of volunteers who can work on the ground for their own people. We have a strong advisory committee that will advise us in preparing the health information booklet. This will be a project for the indigenous people by the indigenous people.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

Since, 2015, we have been working to combat stigma related to sexual and reproductive health in one of the remotest parts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) where more than 13 underprivileged Indigenous Communities make up only 1 percent of the overall population of the country. To eradicate period poverty and reinforce the dignity of those impacted by inequality, we are working with young and adolescent girls from marginalized Indigenous communities on sexual and reproductive health, access to hygiene, sanitation issues.

While engaging in community level discussion we found out, discussing about menstruation, women’s sexual health, teen pregnancy, infections, contraceptives, and using sanitary napkins are often considered taboo. Often lack of knowledge about menstruation acts as an obstacle to women’s empowerment such as dropping out of school. Because they are ashamed of speaking out about their abdominal pain and lack of access to hygiene products and water during their menstruation period can’t express their problems related to their adolescent health.

Child marriage is still an alarming issue in the indigenous communities, they get married without any prior knowledge of motherhood, self-care, and the nutrition of themselves and their babies. Hence, a big portion of the population is affected by malnutrition from very early age impacting the whole community’s health.

  While designing the MCH handbook we have been in continuous consultation with the indigenous community, midwives, and indigenous doctors. Our solution will have contents that are indigenous-friendly and impact the whole community to solve a big public health problem. 

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

What is your solution’s stage of development?

In what city, town, or region is your solution team located?

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

The team lead’s name is Ushingmya Marma. She is currently pursuing BA Honors 4th year in English Literature at Bandarban Govt. College. She belongs to 'Marma' community which is the second largest indigenous community in Bangladesh. She is involved in several youth skill development platforms like BRAC, Bangladesh Marma Student’s Council and UNICEF. She is also leading Team Green Milieu one of the winning team of Youth Challenge 2022 bootcamp Chittagong division sponsored by Generation Unlimited.