Healthy Diets for Healthy Communities in Cameroon

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.