Your donation will provide mothers in a rural listening group the ability to access life saving nutrition and related health radio content. Groups can listen to the programs as often as they like on our solar and wind-up MP3 player. Using the Lifeplayer MP3, mothers will listen to persuasive behavior change messages in their language created by Zambia's Food and Nutrition Commission about nutrition and diet, taking iron tablets and folic acid during pregnancy.
Under-nutrition is a leading cause of death of young children in Zambia. Babies who were malnourished in the womb have a higher risk of dying in infancy, and are more likely to face life-long cognitive and physical deficits as well as chronic health problems. For children under the age of two, under-nutrition can be life threatening, often irreversible and reach far into the future. It weakens a child's immune system and can make them more susceptible to dying from common illnesses.
Preparing mothers in the first 1000 days from conception with necessary information is critical. Lifeline Energy will provide our solar and wind-up Lifeplayer MP3s to mothers' listening groups in rural areas who can listen when convenient. The mothers are poor and often illiterate, live in unelectrified farming communities and do not have access to radio, nor could they afford the ongoing cost of batteries. Few have cell phones or a way to keep them powered.
Zambia has one of the highest rates of childhood stunting (45%) from under-nutrition in the world. In addition, 54% of children have a Vitamin A deficiency, 53% have iron deficiency (anemia) and 9.3 % are born under-weight, an indicator of poor maternal nutrition. Mothers who have access to this program using Lifeline Energy's solar and wind-up MP3 player, will help give their children a better future and even save lives.
