By Pueblo a Pueblo | Pueblo a Pueblo
In 2006, we initiated our Maternal Child Health (MCH) Project with the mission to support moms and kids. Support manifests itself in different ways, and we try to be as holistic as possible in our approach-- acknowledging that most challenges are interconnected. Each mother and child in the program receives free access to health care, vitamins, and workshops about subjects like nutrition and women’s empowerment.
Another way the MCH team offers support is through home visits. Rebeca Sosof Tiney, our MCH Program Assistant, travels between communities to meet with beneficiaries at their house. Along the way, she hikes up hills, walks through coffee fields, and carries a large stick-- incase there are territorial dogs. Rebeca is used to these routes now, and she considers the result of the home visits to be greater than the risk.
This week Rebeca visited two mothers in the Tzanchaj Community. Maria and Concepcion both joined the program when they were pregnant, they now each have a one year old son. It was time to do their annual check-up. This is when the MCH team gets information on what we are doing well and what we can improve on. For example, are there topics the mothers want to learn about in the wrokshops? During this visit, we also track the baby's overall health and weight to ensure that they are not falling into the underweight category, which puts them at risk for delayed development.
“Home visits are an important part of the MCH Project” said Rebeca .“Visiting mothers at home gives us a lot of insight into how they and the kids are doing and how the home environment is” she added. During the home visit, Rebeca talks to the mothers about how they’re doing-- emotionally, physically and financially. Rebeca is naturally a great social worker-- she forms close relationships with a lot of the mothers, and when she visit their house “it’s like talking to a friend.” Friendship isn’t one of the listed resources in the MCH Project, but it is a nice added perk. “Alot of the mothers stay at home all day, working on embroidery or beadwork art to sell, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the house and child” so, they don’t necessarily get to talk about how they’re doing or how they’re feeling-- they’re days are packed with working and business of motherhood” explained Rebeca.
We pride ourselves in the quality of support our MCH Project provides. We know that sustainable change happens over time, this is why we invest so much into the future agents of change in rural Guatemala- the children and the women raising them. We would like to thank you for your Global Giving genoristy which makes it possible to give this kind of individualized attention and support to our beneficiary mother’s. Thank you.
By Pueblo a Pueblo | Pueblo a Pueblo
By Pueblo a Pueblo | Project Manager
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