Dr. Chandrakala Jaiswal, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Bentiu Sub Office in South Sudan
Tell us a bit about your background.
I am an Indian born in a small remote village with 3,000 people in a tribal District of Maharashtra, India, where accessibility of Health services was a big challenge. My father always wanted me to be a good human being and serve people. For further studies he supported me to go to Mumbai to my aunts place where I completed my schooling. Right from my childhood, I always wanted to be a doctor so that I could serve the most vulnerable people. I studied Medicine in Pune and got my graduate degree (MD) in Public Health. My first job was with WHO as a Surveillance Medical officer for a polio project in Uttarpradesh, one of the most challenging states in India regarding all Heath Indicators. I worked passionately for this job and was instrumental in establishing the best Surveillance Model of the country. Here I developed my interest in children’s health and hence got my other graduate degree in Pediatrics. I never went for clinical practice because I always felt that to make a difference on a big scale, we have to be involved in policies and implementation that I would not be able to achieve doing clinical practice. Hence I joined UNICEF as a Child Health and Nutrition Consultant and enjoyed my work thoroughly because UNICEF gave me a very good platform for my dreams to come true.
What do you do?
I am a Nutrition Cluster Lead for Unity State which is one of the most crisis-hit states in South Sudan, in the capacity of a Nutrition Specialist for UNICEF. I coordinate and support nutrition programming implemented by 13 Nutrition Partners in Unity State. I am also a mother of my beautiful daughter who is 15 years old and a wife to a pediatric husband.
What’s your working day like?
My day starts at 5.30am with yoga, physical exercises and meditation. I then prepare and drink a cup tea and a snack, open my computer for urgent emails as I wait for the first shuttle to the office. Between 8.00am and 8.10am I am at my desk. My working day varies depending on partners’ demands but mainly involves attending to nutrition partners on issues pertaining quality of programming and PCAs. These issues are brought out through emails while others through meetings. I plan and work closely with my team of 1 Nutrition Officer and 2 Nutrition Consultants. And also work closely with the government officials with whom we coordinate and work closely with. It is difficult for me to entirely plan and decide on what I will be doing during my normal working day. To be able to accomplish my roles, I find extra hours at night after my evening exercises to complete the remaining work. This is usually a very quiet and productive time to accomplish tasks.
How would you describe your job to a 5-year-old?
I work for and with very many children like you to ensure that they are healthy and remain healthy. Part of my work is to advice and encourage children to eat properly, live in hygienic environments and play a lot. I show children how to be healthy, grow strong and how to play so that they enjoy life a lot and are happy. When children are healthy and happy, I am happy too.
In many circumstances, I feel like a mother to all children.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
As a child I always wanted to become a medical doctor. My dad too, always wanted the same for me. I was born in a small village in India of approximately 3,000 people. In this village there was not even a single doctor and this came with consequences. I lost my young brother to a simple illness that could have been easily treated. Today I look back and remember countless numbers of lives that I have saved and my passionate encounter with thousands of children across India and now in South Sudan.
How/when did you join UNICEF?
I joined UNICEF over 10 years ago as a consultant in India. Before that I worked with WHO in a national polio program where I encountered very many children. In the process I became passionate about children and decided to study and become a pediatrician to serve them better. After graduation, I applied to UNICEF which is a bigger organisation for children with the hope that I would meet more children. My work with UNICEF in India has brought me to South Sudan where I have encountered more children. There is more work here in South Sudan as it is a very challenging environment.
What are the most satisfying parts of your job?
Seeing children develop comprehensively is the most satisfying part of my job. Every day I live, I pray and hope for optimal growth for all children. Knowing that this can be achieved through access to good nutrition, health services, good hygiene and sanitation, early child development initiatives and sustainable food security approaches - I have worked hard to integrate these into nutrition programming.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
In rural communities (Unity State) of South Sudan, it is very hard to achieve the required quality of services amidst challenging security and natural calamities. Accessibility to people most in need is the biggest challenge because they are always migrating either because of insecurity or because they’re looking for food for their cattle. Furthermore, nutrition services for children and women are mainly provided by males who have limitations - in the context of South Sudan culture, in nurturing children. Women are less educated and therefore lack the required training and/or skills to contribute to the health and nutrition sector.
What’s your best UNICEF experience/memory?
UNICEF provides a platform for innovation and always advocates to work with the government and build their capacity so that interventions are implemented at scale. In India, in Maharashtra state, with the help from the government in one year we established a robust newborn care and IYCF services throughout the state. This was reflected in the highest reduction of Neonatal and Infant Mortality in the country.
What’s one of the biggest risks you’ve ever taken in your life?
Working in Unity State, in South Sudan, is already a big risk. The state has been a war zone for over 5 years and still is. But my biggest risk was a field monitoring road trip to Koch County, South of Bentiu which is the state’s capital. At some point I thought the driver was lost. We drove without any site of homesteads for hours and knowing that Koch had exchanged hands between rebels and government soldiers, I was very worried. This was a very big risk but for children, it was a risk worth taking.
What are your passions? How do you spend your free time?
My passion for children grows every day and every day when I meet another child, his innocence teaches me to work even harder for them. And because I love to see smiles on my children, I spend a lot of my free time making toys from locally available materials and also encourage caregivers and others to do the same. As a result, there are all sorts of toys in nutrition sites in Unity State. I believe that anything that is harmless to a child can be used to make a toy. Other than that, I spend my free time doing yoga, physical exercises and meditating.
What advice would you give others who are seeking a similar job as yours?
My best advice would be to showcase exceptional commitment and sincerity while keeping a mental balance by having good meals (balanced diet), doing exercises like yoga and walking/jogging.
Who do you look towards for inspiration?
I am inspired by people who forego their personal agendas to give back to communities. This includes socialists and/or people who do research/work in public health and good leaders.