<b>Nagaland Voluntary Health Association (NVHA)</b><br><br>
As part of Project KHOJ ongoing efforts to provide long-term solutions to health problems, the Nagaland VHA has initiated an innovative program that integrates health programmes with income generation to improve health, economic opportunities and quality of life for rural poor women and their families.<br><br>Under this program, women of low income families are organised into self help groups to take up collective activities and also to actively address health problems of their respective villages. Each of these group is formed as Self Help Affinity group with all of its characteristic-leadership, organization and resources, saving and credit etc. The NVHA provides initial training and credit support to the group for productive activities like vegetable vending at market, weaving, piggery, dairy, poultry, food-processing, floriculture etc. Further, each self help group works as partner with the association in its health activities to promote better health within their community.<br><br>The village health workers of NVHA also attended the meetings to provide health education to the group and how they can use their income to prevent illness and disease, and to live more healthy lives as well as typical topics like proper nutrition, management of child health and women’s health issues.<br><br>Through development of skill, leadership and collective action, as well as increasing income and financial resources, an empowering environment is slowly but surely emerging. The end objective of NVHA for this program is, besides, improvement in economic status, that community groups formed are mobilized and trained to carry on the health programmes initiated by NVHA even after the project phases out.