A better future for children

Efinesi almost lost her four-year-old, last born daughter, Mwandida, to acute malnutrition.

Thirty-year-old Efinesi Ibra is an average farmer who lives in Chamba, a remote community in Machinga district. 

Married with four children, Efinesi’s journey to motherhood has been marred by loads of hiccups. 

“Despite realising considerable yields, malnutrition has always been a challenge in my family,” Efinesi explains, a maize, cassava and groundnut grower. 

Efinesi recalls a time when she nearly lost her four-year-old, last born daughter, Mwandida, due to acute malnutrition. 

In December 2011, Mwandida’s health began to deteriorate. Concerned with the situation, Efinesi started providing her porridge, made out of maize flour. 

Seeing no change, Efinesi decided to ferry her daughter to Chamba Health Centre, a local clinic located some two kilometres from the village. 

At the clinic, the doctors discovered that Mwandida lacked vital nutrients in her body and proposed that she be put on special diet including milk, and porridge made from a mix of groundnuts, soya and maize flour. 

Recovering from malnutrition

“I did not gamble on the advice and I spent all the money I had to access the recommended food. 

“I could not believe my eyes seeing my child regaining weight within a short time. It took a month for Mwandida to recover fully,” explains Efinesi who says she was happy to see her child joining her friends at Chikondi Nursery School. 

Cases of malnutrition are high among children in Chamba. Apart from food shortage, lack of knowledge on best feeding practices among community members remains a big challenge. 

To address the challenge, World Vision is working with community members and local based organisations in Chamba by building their capacity and facilitating awareness meetings focusing on health and nutrition. 

World Vision helps

Efinesi has so far attended three meetings and says that she has acquired knowledge on how to rehabilitate malnourished children and prevent them from getting communicable illnesses. 

“Apart from awareness meetings, I do receive important information on health and malnutrition from community health committee members who work hand in hand with World Vision during home visits,” Efinesi says. 

Janita Kamwana, one of the health committee members, explains some of the plans that community members intend to implement in years to come. 

“We intend to carry out a number of activities geared towards the improvement of living standards for children for example; water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, and child immunisation,” Janita explains.