Art Of Healing Among India’s Poorest: A Remarkable Woman Doctor’s Story...

Link

Art Of Healing Among India’s Poorest: A Remarkable Woman Doctor’s Story...

Dr Rani Bang lives and works in Gadchiroli, a district in central India known for its remarkable tribal traditions as for its ‘underdevelopment’. A doctor specialising in gynaecology, she with her husband, Abhay Bang, also a doctor, has worked in this remote region for over 20 years. In 1986, Rani and Abhay set up the Society for Education, Acton and Research in Community Health, and through it pioneered new models in Indian healthcare, recognised widely within India and abroad. In this excerpt, she explains how she was first drawn to concerns that have occupied her all these years.

My first encounter with rural India happened in 1978 in a village called Kanhapur, in Maharashtra’s Wardha district. A widow came to me, seeking treatment for her infant daughter. By the time she left I had learnt an invaluable lesson on what it meant to be a sensitive doctor. The widow, Rai-bai Dabole, was a landless labourer with four children. Her eldest son was thirteen, and youngest daughter just two. She brought the little girl, suffering from gastroenteritis and pneumonia, severely dehydrated. The child needed hospitalisation and I told the mother to take her to the nearest one. Rai-bai did not say anything, remained silent and left. Inwardly, I was seething at what I took to be her ignorance. ‘Why do they produce so many children?’ I asked myself. ‘They will never change.’

Two days later, around 8.30 am when I arrived at the clinic, the same infant was present along with a five-year-old girl. The baby was in a pitiable state, gasping for breath and then she died right there before my eyes. I asked for her mother, Rai-bai, and was told that she had gone to the fields. I felt anguished, frustrated at not having been able to do anything at all to save the little girl, and outraged by the behaviour of the child’s mother. Could she truly be so cruel to have left her ailing child like this? When I met Rai-bai soon after, I let lose a tirade that ended with, ‘You do not understand anything, you people will never change.’ She just looked at me blankly and after I had finished telling her what I thought of her, quietly asked, ‘Have you finished, can I speak now?’

This is what she said to me: ‘I am a widow. I manage to light my ‘chulha’ (stove) at night with my earnings from working as a daily wage labourer. If I take this child to the hospital, who will earn for the day’s food? I have an older son, of thirteen years and a girl of eight. I couldn’t let my other children go hungry at the cost of saving this one. If I feed the older children, they will grow up and help me ease my difficulties.’

It was my first lesson towards developing an understanding that health was not merely about medicine and healing; but also about being sensitive to one’s patients. A doctor’s understanding must encompass anthropology, sociology and the economic factors that also shape people’s lives. Before that sad meeting with Rai-bai, I looked at her and others who passed through my clinic as patients, but she made me realise that we counsel and assess our patients without knowing much about them. Before presuming to do so, we doctors need to be educated about why people behave the way they do. That was when I asked myself a far more difficult question: ‘Who am I to talk to other women and advise them about their health?’

Initial experiences such as these set me on the path of reflection. Several lessons, not all as tragic, have come my way through my parents, teachers, patients, ‘dais’ (traditional birth attendants) and the rural folk I came across in the course of my daily practice. And it is from them that I drew inspiration and continue to do so. I believe I have something important to share about the health needs of the people of rural India, and how one might work with the community as a result of these interactions.

My own efforts towards engineering social change have not always worked as I would have wanted them to, occasionally leading to certain unforeseen developments. The town of Gadchiroli, for instance, has a well-marked red-light area, and although it took much counselling, I was once able to persuade three commercial sex workers to get married. I had not reckoned that these women were used to being independent, enjoyed their freedom of movement, and that their husbands would not trust them. I was very enthusiastic about their rehabilitation, but my plan was a failure. Two of them soon fell in love, but not with anyone whom I thought would make a suitable groom. One did marry but separated after two months despite being repeatedly counselled by me.

During this ‘experiment’ my children were witness to all my activities. They accompanied me everywhere and certainly picked up ideas from listening to the conversations, often without completely grasping them, as I found out. Amrut, my younger son, was five years old and would often play with these women. One day he innocently announced to me that he too wanted a condom as he might catch an infection from his playmates!

I often pondered on the fact that society had different norms for men and women. A sex worker is considered ‘bad’, for example, but whose needs is she fulfilling? Men go around with their heads held high, but the sex worker faces social censure. I started questioning my own norms. When I hear of a young widow being in a relationship, but unable to marry because she has children, I wonder if it is right to question her character. What I can do is talk to her, help her realise the potential dangers she faces and how she can protect herself against them. …

Working with the dais and training illiterate women to become birth attendants has taught me a great deal about non-formal methods of education, such as teaching through games and songs. …

One invaluable lesson taught to me by the dais was about understanding rural perceptions related to birth. For instance, initially, when the dai did not report a stillbirth I used to think they were lying, until I sat with them and sought to understand how they viewed birth. I discovered that the concept of stillbirth was alien to their sensibilities. They believe that a baby emerging from the womb could not but be alive. There is no concept of ‘contraction’, and hence they could not accept that a dead baby could still be pushed out of the womb though this process. It is also important to understand the traditional concepts of anatomy. For instance, they do not know of the diaphragm. They believe that all the vital organs are in the abdomen. They believe the liver is the most important organ; they also believe the uterus is open from above; that when menstrual bleeding is less than normal the residue in the abdomen forms a ‘gola’ (tumour) and gets embedded in the liver, which can kill; that if a contraceptive like a Copper-T is inserted, it will travel up into the ‘stomach’ and touch the vital organs there. Hence it is important to explain anatomy to them as clearly as possible...

Adoption : Bringing home your bundle of love

Link

Adoption : Bringing home your bundle of love

Sunita (38) and Sandeep (42) have been married for nine years. But they have not been able to have a child naturally. Lakhs of rupees and many fertility specialists later they were getting frantic.

"We were very irritated all the time. The wait was killing us," says Sandeep. Sunita adds, "My husband and I desperately wanted to have child. So we visited many doctors for treatment. We spent almost Rs three lakh but it was taking too much time and it was still uncertain whether we would meet with success. Later, we both decided to adopt a child." She calls it the most "wise" decision she and her husband have taken ever.

They are not an isolated case. Stress and conception-unfriendly lifetsyles has meant that more and more couples are coming forward with complaints of childlessness. While infertililty among young couples in the age group 20-30 is between 10-15% it rises proportionally with increase in age. It can be as high as 25% in couples above their 30s.

"Apart from social, cultural family and peer pressure most couples on their own desire to have children. Not being able to fulfil this need, can bring not only lead to unhappiness at personal level and affect self esteem but this also strains the marriage. Moreover, in our country not being able to conceive a child is looked down upon by society. This can only add to the couples woes as everyone keeps asking them about it, "says Narendra Kinger, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist.

Having said that, adoption is not a cake walk either. It involves a lot of paper work and the couple has to mentally prepare for the wait. Rajendra (37) and Priya (36) have been married for 13 years and just adopted a two-month-old child. "It took us four years to complete the entire adoption process and bring our daughter home. Adoption agencies can and should do better but parents need to be forewarned that the process is lengthy and can be emotionally draining," says Rajendra."But, this process has not put us off adoption and we plan to adopt another baby soon," he is quick to add.

Once the adoption process ends, it is only beginning of the actual challenge that lies ahead and being mentally prepared for it will help parents feels Kinger. "Most parents expect their children to be perfect. This issue needs to be especially addressed when adoption is concerned. You CANNOT blame the child for any shortcomings that might arise later in life. This can happened with your biological child too," he points out.

According to him, it is up to the parents whether they want to tell the child that s/he is adopted. "I feel that the children must be told about this by the time they turn six or eight. As finding it out later in life may severely affect them. It is best the children know of this from their parents than any outsider. It is better to adopt infants. If you plan on adopting an older child, try spending some time with her/him," counsels Narendra Kinger.

2.6 lakh kids to get health identity cards

Link

2.6 lakh kids to get health identity cards

Vijayawada, Nov. 14: The district administration will distribute 2.6 lakh Jawahar Health Cards to children studying in the government schools, residential schools and aided schools in Krishna district in order to maintain the health records of the students.
The district medical and health department and Rajiv Vidya Mission will jointly monitor the implementation of the health scheme known as Jawahar Bala Arogya Raksha (JBAR) for children aged between 5 and 14 years. Students studying up to Class I to V will be given blue card and Class IV to X students will get grey colour card.
As part of the scheme, doctors will conduct monthly medical tests and maintain health details of the students. The tests will be useful to identify cardiac, dental, eye, lungs and other problems and assess the health problems to be faced by the children . The state government will give special training to teachers and staff working in the schools on the medical and personal care to be taken in the schools for students.
The district collector, Mr Peeyush Kumar, on Sunday formally launched the scheme in Eedpugallu village of Kankipadu mandal. Awareness camps will be organised to educate people on the implementation of the scheme. Mr Peeyush Kumar, after launching the scheme, said the health card will be issued to the students after completion of school education along with the transfer certificate.
Rajiv Vidya Mission in-charge project officer, Mr P.S.A. Prasad, said children studying in rural areas would be initially covered under the programme. He hoped the government would extend the schenme to urban areas too.
The health card scheme was also launched in Guntur district to take care of 5,40,000 schoolchildren studying in 4,200 government schools in the district. Under this scheme, doctors will go to schools on every Thursday to conduct health check-ups to the students.
Speaking on the occasion, the district collector, Mr B. Ramanjaneyulu, directed the science teachers in every school to take care of the children’s health.
The MLC, Mr K.S. Lakshmana Rao, said the government will distribute two pairs of school uniforms from the next academic year at a cost of Rs 230 crore.

Obama: US-Muslim mistrust must end

Link

Obama: US-Muslim mistrust must end

Obama hailed Indonesia as an example of successful religious co-existence

Building on his Cairo speech, the US president said much more needs to be done to repair frayed US-Muslim relations.

Delivering a keynote speech in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, the US president has said much more needs to be done to repair frayed US relations with the Muslim world.

Barack Obama addressed a 6,000-strong audience, mainly students, at the national university in the capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday.

"Just as individuals are not defined solely by their faith, Indonesia is defined by more than its Muslim population," he said.

"But we also know that relations between the United States and Muslim communities have frayed over many years. As president, I have made it a priority to begin to repair these relations."

Obama, who spent four years in Indonesia as a young boy, praised the world's most populous Muslim nation as an example of successful religious co-existence.

"Even as this land of my youth has changed in so many ways, those things that I learned to love about Indonesia - that spirit of tolerance that is written into your constitution, symbolised in your mosques and churches and temples, and embodied in your people - still lives on," he said.

'New beginning'

His speech was an update to a major address he gave 17 months ago in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where he declared a "new beginning" in US-Muslim relations after the tensions over the 9/11 attacks on the US and the former US administration's response to them.

"In the 17 months that have passed we have made some progress, but much more work remains to be done," Obama said.

"I said then, and I will repeat now, that no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust. But I believed then, and I believe today, that we have a choice. We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give into a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress."

Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, said Obama's speech went down very well in Indonesia.

She said Indonesians were generally receptive to the president's speech.

Middle East peace

Mentioning the Middle East specifically, Obama said the Israeli-Palestinian peace process faces "enormous obstacles" after he relaunched talks in September only to see the dialogue bogged down over disputes between the parties.

"But let there be no doubt: we will spare no effort in working for the outcome that is just, and that is in the interest of all the parties involved: two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security."

The president gave his speech on a twice-postponed visit to Indonesia, which was the second stop in his four-country tour of Asia.

Sexual harassment bill to cover students

Link

Sexual harassment bill to cover students

NEW DELHI: Sweeping provisions proposed in a draft Bill aim to penalize firms that do not set up a sexual harassment complaints panel.

An employer can be penalized with a fine of up to Rs 50,000 if it fails to do any of the following — set up an internal committee, act on recommendations of the inquiry report, take action against those found guilty of making a false complaint or providing false evidence and publish information relating to harassment cases in its annual report.

Apart from government organizations and the organized private sector, the proposed legislation covers sectors like the hospitality industry — including catering services and restaurants — NGOs, health services, coaching centres, domestic workers and those working in tailoring or beauty parlours.

The Bill also includes educational institutions, bringing students and researchers into the ambit of protection. The draft law provides that if any employer, after being convicted of an offence punishable under the Act, is again convicted for the same offence, the punishment will be three time greater than that imposed on the first conviction, subject to the punishment being the maximum provided for the offence.

The government or local autho-rity would also have the right to cancel or withdraw the licence to carry out business activity of the employer. The employer will be expected to provide a safe, working environment at the work place.

Giving African girls a chance to learn

Link

Giving African girls a chance to learn

(CNN) -- In 2000, I moved to Senegal for the third and last time with my five grandchildren and husband, jazz musician Sam Sanders. Their mother had passed on five years before from a heart attack and their father was still distraught.

We decided to give our grandchildren an international multilingual and multicultural education. I had spent 30 years in and out of many African countries, designing health, education and nutrition programs, and had lived in many places and discovered many cultures.

We decided on Kaolack, a town in the western part of Senegal. The local religious leaders are very tolerant of all religions, creeds, and nationalities. After we arrived, our grandchildren started to become accustomed to the varied lifestyle. Then, my husband, who was my best friend, died. I retired from life. I spent my days in prayer, reflection and education of the grandchildren. My mourning period had began, and I assumed it would continue all my remaining life.

In late spring 2001, Mame Gueda Agne, a 9-year-old playmate of my granddaughter, came and asked to join the grandkids home-schooled classes. She stated simply that she had failed the third grade the year before, was failing this year, and afraid that she would be thrown out of school.

In Senegal, if a child fails two successive years in public school he or she is expelled. Only if parents can afford private school education will the child be able to continue.

I explained to her that she was in the Senegalese school system and the grandkids' classes were not the same. In fact, the last thing I wanted was for an outside child to interrupt my mourning rituals. But, Mame Gueda continued to come and ask.

Finally, I took Mame Gueda to speak with her mother to stop her asking. Her mother explained that the girl was not intelligent and would probably fail. She stated that she would let her finish this school year, then keep her home to teach her how to be a good wife and mother.

I could not accept that fate for a little girl who only wanted me to assist her. I asked her mother to allow me to work with her. Even though I had not mastered the Senegalese educational system, I thought that with my local contacts I could find someone to help Mame Gueda.

The next day Mame Gueda arrived for schooling. But she did not come alone. She came with three other girls. In two weeks, I had 20 little 9-year-old girls. My mourning period was over.

I researched the whys and wherefores of the little girls' educational failures. I found that of every 60,000 girls who enter first grade, only 4,500 finish primary school in the region of Kaolack. Of those 4,500 students entering middle school, only 1,500 will enter high school. Five hundred will graduate with a high school diploma, 150 will enter university, and 15 will receive their university degree.

I discovered that many girls do not have books and school supplies, or the time or a place to study after school. I began haunting all the public and private development agencies, local and national government institutions, asking for assistance to support our little girls. I was refused. We were not part of an established program or in the wrong area, or we were turned down for innumerable other reasons.

We started teaching ourselves. There is always someone who knows something that another does not. We made sure that everyone knew the basics: read, write, cipher. I drew upon competency based educational techniques I had learned at Columbia University Teacher's College. We had to rely on ourselves.

In the fall of 2001 the girls wanted me to continue the program. I informed them that I hadn't been able to find the money. They said they could raise their own money. They had seen American girls on television selling cookies and would imitate them. So I began "cookie classes." The girls sold cookies and fruit punch.

They raised enough to buy their school books and supplies. The little girls brought in older siblings and relatives who had already failed and been expelled from school. The older girls did the cooking and selling. They became our financial support and grew into our entrepreneurs.

The little girls returned to school. I knew that in order for them not to fail again, they had to keep learning. We involved our girls' parents to make sure they allowed them the time to study after school by reducing household chores. We involved the community by getting it to allocate public spaces and buildings to hold our afterschool classes and programs.

Eventually we got public and private financial and technical support to expand the number of girls that we teach each year. We now have 3,383 girls and want to increase our numbers to 5,000 this year.

We export five blended hibiscus teas, dolls and household products to pay for the schooling. We have decided to become green, with an aggressive environmental education and agricultural development entrepreneurial program.

We have 20 girls in university. We do not recruit. They find us. They come. All failing, all willing to teach and learn. And now: All succeeding.

Obama wants to meet workers’ children at Humayun’s Tomb

Link

Obama wants to meet workers’ children at Humayun’s Tomb

New Delhi: 20 students from ASI’s makeshift schools at monuments likely to get passes to meet US President

Not many might know of the makeshift day schools at the city’s heritage sites where young kids of migrant workers learn alphabets and basic mathematics. US President Barack Obama not only knows about them, but is also looking forward to meet the children during his visit to the Capital later this week.

The US Embassy recently requested the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to arrange a meeting with a group of slum children and wards of conservation workers studying in the makeshift schools during Obama’s visit to the Humayun’s Tomb on November 7. The ASI is now in the process of selecting around 20 children aged between five and eight years and five of their teachers for the interaction.

These makeshift schools started about a year ago at a few heritage sites that had a large number of migrant conservation workers camping on the sites. Most are from remote areas in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and are unskilled or semi-skilled workers working for contractors. Currently, these makeshift schools are run at Red Fort, Purana Quila, Qutab Minar, Tughlaqabad, Safdarjung’s Tomb and Qila Rai Pithora.

The schools initially enrolled only workers’ children, but soon some from nearby slums too joined the classes.

“Over the months, the number of students has increased considerably. These children are provided stationery, blankets and other basic necessities. We even offer scholarships to the outstanding students,” said an ASI official.

“The tutors here are volunteers, wives of ASI officials or some ASI officials themselves. Volunteers from the United Peace Foundation too frequently come in to teach the children,” the official said.

Sources in the Culture Ministry said 20 children and five tutors will get special passes to meet Obama during his 40-minute visit to the Humayun’s Tomb. However, officials said that with Diwali round the corner, a large number of the migrant workers have returned home and to hold some of the children back might be a difficulty, especially since most of the kids and even their parents are unaware of the significance of the meeting.

Though no special preparations are being made at the Humayun’s Tomb, sources said either ASI Director General Gautam Sengupta or Culture Secretary Jawhar Sircar are expected to receive Obama at the World Heritage Site.

Services of police officers who died in action recalled

Link

Services of police officers who died in action recalled

NELLORE: Members of the Andhra Pradesh Police Officers' Association (APPOA), Nellore district unit, recalled the services of the police officers who sacrificed their lives in discharging their duties.

As part of the Police Martyr's Commemoration Week being observed from October 15 to 21, APPOA members led by district Superintendent of Police E. Damodar, students from various colleges, NGOs and auto drivers organised blood donation camps and conducted service activities in the district.

According to sources, about 11 police personnel belonging to Nellore district, had laid down their lives in fighting the extremists at various places in the State in the last 16 years. Fifteen other policemen died in service in the district in the last one year.

In 1994, eight policemen -- Lazarus, Balaram Reddym Purushottam, Subbareddy, Ramana, Lingam, Chandrahas and Mallikharjun Singh – of Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP) Venkatagiri Battalion died when naxalites triggered a landmine in Nalgonda district, while they were following a Minister's convoy. In 1997, Varikuntapadu Sub-Inspector Damaramadugu Venkateswarlu alias Kondaveeti Simham, was hacked to death by suspected naxals in the police station. A constable – Hanuman Naik of APSP Battalion was shot dead by the extremists when the latter went to his native village at Achampet in Mahaboobnagar district in the year 2000.

In June 2008, a greyhound constable Anakarla Keshavulu, native of Kaluvoy village in Nellore district, died in Maoist attack along with 32 other policemen in Balimela reservoir at Chitrakonda village on AOB.

National Police Day

On the eve of National Police Day on October 21, the police will pay tributes to the martyr's who sacrificed their lives in protecting the people. The officers will visit call the bereaved family members at their houses and enquire about their children's education, health and problems, if any, said the APPOA, Nellore district unit honorary president Y. Srihari Babu.

Association district president G. Madhava Reddy urged the government to give ‘puraskarams' for the State police personnel who lost their lives.

Health camp for traffic police

Link

Health camp for traffic police

Occupational hazards:Policemen enrolling themselves for an advanced cardiac and pulmonary check-up camp organised by Kamineni Hospitals in King Koti on Thursday.

HYDERABAD: The City Police Commissioner A.K. Khan said that home guards for Traffic Department will be selected separately instead of picking them from the law and order wing to train them in traffic-related issues.

Traffic policing was a different skill now due to increased vehicle population and changing lifestyle of people, he said adding that we need specially trained men to regulate traffic. He was speaking after inaugurating an advanced cardiac and pulmonary check up camp for the Central Zone traffic police on Thursday. It is being organised in association with Kamineni Hospitals.

Mr. Khan said traffic police were prone to chest and heart diseases due to their constant exposure to the increasing pollution levels and they need to undergo regular check ups. He reminded them that they were the face of the entire police system as locals and visitors from India and abroad form an opinion on policing based on their behaviour. Mr. Khan also said traffic police have a challenge to deal with once the Metro Rail work commences. C.V. Anand, Additional Commissioner, Traffic said he realised how difficult traffic policing was after taking up the assignment. He said the idea of a health check-up camp for traffic police emanated from the health problems they are bound to face. He said it would be a continuous process and done every six months. He said new ‘use and throw' masks will be given to traffic police which would cost Rs. One lakh a month. He also suggested that policemen use Allergin granules, an Ayurvedic medicine to improve resistance power.

Mr. Khan distributed masks and Allergin granule bottles to the policemen. B. Malla Reddy, DCP, Traffic II and Shailender Singh, Senior Interventional Cardiologist from Kamineni were present.

Diva in Focus: Shilpi Empowers the Disabled!, By Sumitra Nair, Team iDiva

Link

Diva in Focus: Shilpi Empowers the Disabled!,   By Sumitra Nair, Team iDiva

Shilpi Kapoor was working with a US-based firm, where she interacted with her colleague on the internet. What she didn't know was that her colleague was paralysed from the neck down. "When I realised it was a specialised technology that was helping him work, I decided it was time I did more for the disabled in India" says Shilpi.

Inspired by her colleague, Shilpi, who has a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Xavier's and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, was determined to make the world more accessible to the disabled. "Everyone should be able to deliver their best," says the woman who founded the first ever computer training centre in Mumbai for the visually challenged in association with an NGO and the Microsoft Bill Gates Foundation.

Raising Funds
But all wasn't easy for Shilpi. Funds were a problem initially. Therefore Net System Informatics, a knowledge management division that offers services like e-learning, technical writing and concept digitalisation, was set up to raise funds in the form of fees.

"We did not want it to be a non-profit entity. There had to be a way to generate funds so that it is self-sustained," she explains. Aavishkar a social entrepreneurial firm invested with them. "That helped us too," she says.

Changing Attitudes
 "In India, the disabled are looked upon differently; they usually sit at home. Though this attitude is slowly changing, I want to make things easier for them. They want to travel, work, go out and have normal lives. So we should stop seeing them differently. Empathy is more important than sympathy," she says.

A lot of companies do not consider the disabled as their target audience. "Why is that?" she questions.

Making Everything Accessible
Shilpi wants to make everything 'accessible' for the disabled. That's why she has started a centre that trains them and an organisation that employs them.

"We have all the facilities like lifts specially designed for the disabled and special restrooms for them. We even have supernova screen readers that help the blind browse through websites," she says. These are changes any company can incorporate to make their offices friendly for disabled employees, she adds. Today, 75 per cent of the 55-odd employees at N-System Informatics are disabled!

Shilpi also heads Barrier Break Technologies a unit of N-systems that tests software and websites to check how disabled-friendly or 'accessible' they are. She now aims to have schools for the disabled with a structured syllabus so that they can deliver like any other employee.

Are you wowed by Shilpi's initiative like we are, and want to wish her success? Leave us a comment and let us know.

U.S. gives school a clean bill of health, By Monica Eng, Tribune reporter

Link

U.S. gives school a clean bill of health, By Monica Eng, Tribune reporter

could the Southwest Side be quietly hosting the healthiest school in the Midwest?

If you judge by a prestigious federal award program, it very well might.

Tuesday morning the Academy of Global Citizenship, nestled in the shadow of Midway Airport, received the U.S. Department of Agriculture's highest honor in its HealthierUS Schools Challenge — the first ever awarded in the Midwest.

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan flew in to tour the school's organic garden, attend a morning yoga class, join the kids for an organic oatmeal breakfast and present AGC with the department's "Gold With Distinction" award to recognize its many achievements in health and nutrition.

Although the 3-year-old charter school technically operates under the Chicago Public Schools system, its health practices diverge dramatically from those of most schools in the district.

For starters, the whole school gets daily recess and daily physical education. The organic, made-from-scratch meal program includes dishes like macaroni and "trees," organic soy milk, kale crisps and teriyaki tempeh stir fry — not zesty taco meat with corn chips.

The students tend backyard chickens and an organic garden full of squash, arugula, tomatoes, eggplants and quinoas. And all their food waste gets composted with each meal.

For fundraisers, kids sell organic plants and reusable bags, not candy. And lessons on wellness and environmentalism are wrapped into nearly every subject of the school's International Baccalaureate candidate curriculum.

All these points were essential to the school's high marks in the USDA program. And their divergence from regular CPS practices makes the district's goal of gaining "gold" certification for 100 of its schools in three years seem awfully ambitious. Scant recess, once-a-week physical education and candy fundraisers are still standard practice at most district schools.

When addressing the student body of kindergartners to third-graders, Merrigan explained that her boss, Barack Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama were "really interested in kids' health and well being. … So they asked me to head out to Chicago and celebrate the work you are doing together."

Executive Director Sarah Elizabeth Ippel's school had been operating under many of the program's guidelines for its three-year existence. But it was only in the last year, when the HealthierUS Schools Challenge was relaunched as part of the first lady's "Let's Move" program, that she thought to apply.

The Cambridge graduate says that "the values of the HealthierUS Schools Challenge resonate deeply with our commitment to ensuring that our future leaders are equipped to make healthy and sustainable choices for themselves, our community and our planet."

As a charter, AGC operates unencumbered by many district regulations, but it also relies heavily on fundraising. During Merrigan's visit, Ippel unveiled plans to expand the school with new facilities including an orchard, a barn and 10 acres of agricultural land by 2014. The fundraising goal for it: $30 million.

Unfazed by the challenge, Ippel says she hopes elements of her school move the district in a healthier direction and "serve as a model be replicated across CPS and even the rest of the country."