By Feed the Children | Project Leader
The Care Group (CG) strategy is a community-based approach to help improve the health nutrition status of mothers and young children. CGs enable members to become more aware of their challenges and become active participants in health behavior change. Feed the Children (FEED) organizes volunteer mothers into CGs and these mothers become leaders, known as Care Group Volunteers (CGVs). CGVs are trained on specific messages related health and nutrition practices and make a commitment to disseminate knowledge, skills, and practices with other mothers throughout their communities.
In November a new Care Group was created in the Diquini area. Training sessions for CGVs on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and peer-to-peer training continued in Carrefour. Supervision visits continued to strengthen the work CGs and coordination meetings were conducted to review achievement in relation to set objectives and plan upcoming activities.
To end the year, a plenary session was held in Bois Djoute Maracania on December 22 with participation from all current Care Groups, graduated mother leaders, neighbors, FEED staff and municipal leaders. The theme was “Let’s plan our lives on childbearing for women and children in order to stop malnutrition,” and was an opportunity for members to share lessons learned and discuss achievements. To encourage participation, everyone that attended received a water bottle.
In January, after several community meetings, another Care Group was established in Maracania with mothers very motivated to participate in the program! Ongoing training and monitoring activities continued along with recruitment of new CGVs in the upper Bizoton area. While the socio-political context of the area has slowed down the process, many women volunteered and 5 new CGV and neighbor women have already joined the program. The FEED team also distributed 10 image albums to the new care groups. These serve as a teaching tool, particularly for individuals that cannot read, for lessons with mother leaders and neighbor women.
Since November, 81 CGVs received training on health and nutrition lessons from health promoters, 712 community women received lessons from CGVs and 3,144 children under the age of 5 benefited, along with their mothers.
Cenie is a 29-year-old wife and mother. She has a 5-year-old daughter named Schneidine and is carrying her second child. She is a local market vendor and her husband is a taxi driver. During her first pregnancy, she had very little knowledge of what she should be eating as an expecting mother. As a result, she was weak, sick and suffered, and gave birth to a malnourished child.”
Through CG training, Cenie learned how proper nourishment is essential for pregnant women and their babies. She learned what type of food she should be consuming and how women that eat well carry their children well and are not as vulnerable as before.
“Because of the problems I faced during my first pregnancy, I said it would be my last. I'd suffered too much. I used to say that witches are hurting me. I spent more time sick than being healthy during my pregnancy. When I found out I was pregnant for a second time I felt really sad. I thought the same thing was going to happen to me as in my first pregnancy.
I could never forget the day my promoter taught me the lesson on diet for pregnant women. I remember five years ago that when I was pregnant for the first time my mother had forbidden me to eat this and that. All this confusion made me weak, sick, malnourished and I gave birth to a malnourished child. Now I've become a mother leader and it's a joy for me to carry my baby because things are not like before. I know everything about the diet of the pregnant woman. I have confidence that I will give birth to a healthy baby.
It's really a miracle to see how healthy and strong I have become thanks to the Care Group Program. I know what to eat and what I should not consume. The food groups that are related to me I know them well. I eat with peace. My body works well and now my system is very strong.”
By Feed the Children | Project Leader
By Feed the Children | Project Leader
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