ARMMAN: Creating a New Path Forward

ARMMAN is a secular Indian nonprofit organization committed to improving the well-being of pregnant mothers, newborn infants, and children in the first five years of their lives. ARMMAN’s vision is to design and implement sustainable interventions to reduce maternal, neonatal and child mortality and morbidity in urban and rural India. The organization’s name stands for Advancing Reduction in Mortality and Morbidity of Mothers, Children and Neonates. However, it also translates to “a wish” in Hindi, thereby communicating the heartfelt wish that no mother, infant or child in India dies for lack of care.

Last fall, three Pfizer colleagues came together as a Global Health Team to support ARMMAN’s vision. ARMMAN has an ambitious goal to reach more women in cities and rural areas across India and the Global Health Team members worked with ARMMAN to evaluate their communications approach and identify opportunities to increase and expand their reach. The team also worked with ARMMAN on a new Project Management Framework, designed to help manage their portfolio of programs, increase efficiency and ultimately impact more women with their services.

“Overall, my volunteer experience in India was incredible,” said Alyson, a member of the team. “The opportunity to immerse myself in a completely new culture was both challenging and eye-opening, and having direct interactions with the women, children and newborns that ARMMAN supports gave new meaning to my day-to-day work at Pfizer.”

Global Health Team members, whose backgrounds include communications, marketing and project management, had not anticipated the ways in which their skillsets would benefit ARMMAN. “More than anything, our ARMMAN colleagues were emotionally invested in the program, and as a result, our team played a critical role in bringing a neutral, outside perspective to their work to offer ideas and insights that would help them grow,” said Ilya, another member of the team. “This included providing them with counsel to eliminate certain processes to optimize their impact on patients, and they recognized the need to adopt new strategies and ways of thinking to move the organization forward.”

Jin, another member of the Pfizer team, appreciated the opportunity to immerse herself in a new culture and better understand the impact ARMMAN has on local healthcare. “After three weeks working side by side with the ARMMAN team, I gained a great appreciation for life in India.  I am glad I could contribute even a little bit to help ARMMAN expand healthcare resources for Indian women. The work they are doing can really change a women’s life.”

Looking ahead, Ilya says, “ARMMAN is poised for success, and it is my sincere hope that they’re able to grow their organization to help even more women and children.” Added Alyson, “As a mother, I feel a personal connection to their work, and it is my hope that they may reach as many women as possible with their services.”