MCHN and TSFP project is implemented in four health facilities in Koboko District where mothers are specially trained on how to prepare enriched porridge for children. John’s mother Anita from Aizu village in Adranga, Koboko District, West Nile region tells a story of how her child recovered from moderate acute malnutrition.
Caption: AFOD Community Mobilization Assistant during a home visit of the child.
Before I went to the health facility for medical assistance, my right breast was infected and hardened and could not produce breast milk. I was breast feeding the baby on the left breast, when the child reached four months, the left breast was also infected and although I was reluctant to seek medical help, this time, I was compelled to seek treatment because the child’s health was deteriorating. The first medical prescription didn’t help me much, the child could not get adequate food and I thought of starting the child on other foods like beans which I would pound and feed the child on with some milk. This did not improve the child’s condition. I went back to the hospital for review where they prescribed new drugs and I got well but the child was frequently falling ill.
When an outreach was conducted by AFOD staff at Adranga in my village on 18th May 2018, I took my child who was now 1 year and nine months old weighing 6.7 Kg with a MUAC of 12.0 cm, thereafter, I was referred to Pijoke health facility where the child was enrolled on the TSFP program.
On admission, Anita was given some basic food preparation instructions such as; porridge preparation, complementary feeding and good hygiene practices. In her subsequent visits, the child’s health had started improving. On seeing this improvement, the husband encouraged her to always follow the instructions given to her by the Nutrition Assistant at the health facility. “She really followed up her appointment dates” recaps the nutrition assistant Pijoke health center.
When I went for the last appointment date, I was told by the nutrition assistant that the child had improved greatly. The child’s MUAC increased from 12.0 CM to 13.6 CM. By 14th August 2018, John was discharged from the programme.
When asked about the lessons she learned, she remarked, “Mothers, wherever you are, don’t hesitate and keep your sick children at home, you should take children to a health facility for help, unlike me who suffered with my child at home”. “I don’t know if John would be alive today had I not attended the programme.
Look at him now, he is running around in perfect health. I will always be
grateful for what I learnt in the project”.
