LL village takes on malnutrition

People of Kachikho Village,Traditional Authority (T/A) Tsabango in Lilongwe have united to end child malnutrition.

Speaking in an interview on Monday, mother care group promoter Annie Zenasi said the area was prone to child malnutrition and parents and guardians did not know what to do.

She said the community had little knowledge about balanced diet and did not know signs of malnutrition.

“We were surprised when World Relief taught us how we can identify a child that is malnourished and what we can do to help such a child,” said Zenasi.

She said they are now able to detect a malnourished child.

“So far, 37 women have been trained as mother caregivers and each one of them looks after 12 households,” explained Zenasi.

She said the mother groups were given mid-upper-arm-circumference (Muac) tape which they use to screen children.

Since the project started six months ago, the groups have registered 25 malnourished children.

“After detecting that a child is malnourished, we advise the parent to take the child to hospital to receive support in form of supplements,” said Zenasi.

The project, code named ‘Chiyambi Chabwino’, has influenced a mindset change in child nutrition, according to Tsabango Area nutrition facilitator Owen Kaludzu.

Apart from malnutrition issues, World Relief is also promoting sanitation and hygiene by encouraging households to have pit latrines. n