Healthy Diets for Healthy Communities in Cameroon

Our nutrition program continues to be one of our main initiatives and it is largely due to the support and generosity of our partners. We could not do this work without you.

Over the last year, we have been working with a Common Interest Group from the village of Bomaka, right outside of Buea. This is a wonderful group that has persevered through many challenges; moreover, this group has embraced each aspect of the nutrition program and has seen the benefits in their agricultural harvests, diets, and family nutrition. 

In January, the group from Bomaka welcomed us to take part in a cooking demonstration in their village. Also, two of our international volunteers who had helped us develop the nutrition program five years ago were also able to join us for this event. It was a great day of sharing, interacting, and learning. It was incredible to see this group demonstrating all that they had learned through the nutrition program and then teaching us how they were preparing new food dishes and explaining how their nutrition and health has improved as a result.

This is why we do this work and why it is so valuable. A small amount of education, training, and support combined with the strong spirit of collaboration and initiative amongst community groups can have a transforming impact on people's lives. We are excited to share many more stories like this with you. It is a privilege to be a small part of working with communities to shape and determine their nutritional well-being.

Thank you again for your support, partnership, and incredible generosity. 

Introduction
The program continued in other villages of Akwaya Sub Division – to Ballin this time where poor nutrition is commonplace. This training was a replication of the one in Akwaya Town.

The Training
OBJECTIVES
This project had as objectives to
• Sensitize and educate women on healthy diet
• Create awareness in women on the importance of feeding well and being healthy with the local and available resources in the communities.
• Carry out practical sessions with the women on how to prepare food that is balanced for children and the family

METHODOLOGY
• Expose/Lectures
• Brainstorming
• Questions and Answers
THE TRAINING PROCESS
In Ballin, the FORUDEF team of facilitators was presented and introduced to the women groups by the team leader. This was followed by an icebreaking activity, usually a song. The objectives, programme and methodology of the training were explained and discussed.
The chief facilitator Mrs. Tabe Susan went on to ask the participants to list some of the foods they consumed on daily basis and the common illnesses that attack their children in their respective communities.

Common foods consumed
• Banana and pepper,
• Plantain and oil, mango soup,
• Cocoyams and bitter leaf,”
• Banana and “mbulu’’ commonly called “seeking table”
• Fufu and okro soup, “tanchot” soup, mango soup, coco leaf soup, cassava leaf soup
• Cocoyam and green vegetable, bitter leaf, oil,

With this information the chief facilitator and Ms Pamela Orock, ushered the participants into the “house” analogy. In every training session, the participants were asked the question: “what will happen if you build a house with a strong foundation and no roof nor strong walls?”

The “house” analogy and questions propelled the participants into discovering the problem of malnutrition in their communities as the following were identified on the part of the participants without difficulty:
• Energy (carbohydrate) which was considered as the foundation of every house.
• Body builders( protein) which was considered to be the walls of every house
• Protection (vitamins and minerals) which was also considered as the roof of a
house.
The women were trained on the core of good nutrition - feed healthy, one had to consume a balanced diet every day which includes three types of food namely, Carbohydrates, Protein, Vitamins and minerals
Ms Orock Pamela further explained the consequences of balanced and unbalanced diet. She used the chart to demonstrate graphically a well-fed child and a poorly-fed child.
The drawings, depicted the look of children who were poorly fed/unbalanced diet
Cooking Session
The women prepared the normal food they ate and the facilitators prepared what the food should be using locally grown food. Conclusion
The women discovered better ways of preparing food for their children and families using their locally grown crops. The food prepared by the women groups and FORUDEF staff was shared among the participants, children and visitors. Thirty –eight women participated in the training.
Word of thanks
We are grateful to our donors for their generosity. It is our prayer that they will continue to help us reach as many women and families as possible with the message and training on healthy diet.