The Pune Children’s Zone Foundation works towards developing adult capacity in low-income underserved communities in order to enable a caring, safe and stimulating environment for the holistic development of young children from birth to six years.



Why young children? Because the foundation of all learning for life is shaped in the earliest years. Adult life outcomes - such as the ability to work productively in later life, social competence, emotional well being, mental health and physical health have their roots in early health and development. 

Young children that undergo a cycle of neglect, violence and abuse, exhibit more serious cognitive impairments, attention problems, language deficits, academic difficulties, withdrawn behavior, and problems with peer interaction as they get older. The World Bank’s Human Capital Report, 2018 says that “a child born today in India will be less than half as productive as they could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health”.

At Pune Children’s Zone, we identify and recruit women from underserved communities to work as Field Workers within the same community. We work with these inspirational women, whom we endearingly refer to as Prerna Didis, towards developing their skills in coaching, facilitation and data collection.

Simultaneously, each Prena Didi engages with a fixed set of families/caregivers via home visits, right from the time their child is less than 6 months of age, up until the child is 6 years of age! They build parent capacity across a wide range of themes: breastfeeding, complementary feeding, developmental stimulation activities, and school engagement. Support us to provide a strong foundation to the lives of these children.

Your contributions will be used to support these Prerna Didis and reach more families and children in Pune. With your valued contribution and our incessant efforts, together we can ensure that our children have the strongest life foundation towards achieving positive life outcomes.