Mothers' nutrition group promotes awareness in raising healthy Mozambican children

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

By Henriqueta Paulo, Mozambique Communications

Celia Nivaheni is satisfied with the results of nutrition lessons she received from the mothers’ group training done by World Vision in Nihessiue, Mozambique. A mother with four children, Celia and her husband shared how their worries about their children’s health were helped resolved by proper breastfeeding and nutrition.

"Three years ago, World Vision and the mothers' nutrition group brought together women from the community and taught us how we could live a healthy life, especially at the time of pregnancy and after child birth", said Celia. She added, "On that day, I was with my third child Suzana who was only two months old and very skinny because my breast did not have enough milk to breastfeed my baby and this worried me a lot".

Like other mothers, Celia presented her concern in the group. She learned how to make better use of the resources she had at home without much expense. "The group taught me the kind of food my family should consume and how to prepare them", she said. She continued smiling, "I cannot believe it. It seemed like a miracle that after two weeks my breast was full of milk. My daughter Suzana that I was then breastfeeding also began to recover from being sickly. Now she is already 3 years old and healthy".

Celia commends the work of the mothers' nutrition group, saying, "The group is helping many children in the community. I am very grateful to them for saving my daughter's life and so far I keep following what I have learned from them.” It is a fact that people produce natural food but do not know how to make use of them to have a healthy life. The group has addressed this nutrition issue with World Vision’s support.

“Now I know that the food I grow in my garden is healthier than those I used to buy from the shops. I only have to know how to eat and prepare them in the best way”, Celia said. She added, “I hope that the group will continue to open the minds of mothers and thus, save more children's lives in Nihessiue".

Célia hopes the mother's nutrition group will continue with its advocacy in the communities, as its impact is crucial and visible in the lives of children in Nihessiue, as happened with small Suzana.

Field Coordinator Mário Sampaio said this nutrition activity that started four years ago has organized 38 groups of nutrition mothers. Each group has 10 members and each mother serves 15 families. These groups, in addition to the families that subscribe continuously, also make awareness raising activities on how to make food properly and conduct them in communities and hospitals where there are a greater number of mothers.