Caption: AFOD staff during a monitoring visit
Mr. Maxwell and Shanitah lives in Lurujo, a village in North western Uganda with beautiful, serene, undulating hills and valleys and is one of the many villages in which AFOD intervened in a bid to curb malnutrition. Like many other villages in the region, children in Lurujo lack balanced diet especially vegetables. Post-harvest losses were high due to seasonal variations and nutrient-rich foods of both plant and animal origin were lacking. This inadequate knowledge about growing vegetable food in addition to other factors contributes to the high levels of malnutrition especially for children under five and women of reproductive age. Vitamin A deficiency, Iron deficiency anemia and iodine deficiency disorders are some of the most prevalent micronutrient problems among children.
During a case finding mission targeting malnourished children by VHTs and AFOD staff, Daniel, a 1 year and 4 months old child of Maxwell and Shanitah was identified to be moderately malnourished. He was therefore enrolled on Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme on 27th July 2017 by the Nutrition Assistants at the AFOD supported Lurujo HC II in Koboko district where He was found with a body weight of 6.8kgs and a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 9.1cm. This was attributed to diarrhoea and poor feeding since their main source of income was cultivation which depends on seasons. Unfortunately for the family, the previous season was not good for food production; therefore, it was difficult for them to have enough food varieties for their meals. Therefore, when Daniel suffered from diarrhoea and fever, it was difficult for his natural body immunity to fight off these ailments, his condition deteriorated, after two weeks, he had lost 0.5 kg and his MUAC was 0.5cm. But upon enrolling him for the Supplementary feeding programme run by AFOD at the health center, Daniel’s weight and MUAC had to be continuously monitored after every two weeks.
With the provision of health and nutrition education by the AFOD Nutrition Assistants and the community mobilization assistants at the health facility, Daniel was able to gain weight to 9kgs and 11.8cm for the MUAC. His mother also appreciated the fact that she had learned to prepare the porridge using boiled water and the condition of the child had greatly improved with a good appetite. The mother was given CSB++ of 3kgs for the child for two weeks after which she would go back for both growth monitoring and more food. The parents appreciated the child’s response towards the porridge. At first, it was so difficult for Daniel to eat the porridge and the mother was forcing him to eat it. However, he caught up within 3 days and was now eating porridge together with other foods including fruits.
When asked why there were no vegetables in her gardens, she said that getting seeds was difficult. The maternal infant and young child feeding officer (MIYCF) advised the parents to prepare a balanced diet and not only depend on one type of food as it was found out that they had been growing only cassava. In addition, she promised to give them vegetable seeds and teach them how to plant them in the support groups run by AFOD that included both men and women. When Maxwell the father was asked if he could join the group, he responded saying that “I would be more than willing and would be the first to join the group“. The family was then registered in the support group.
The father was heard appreciating the programme saying “AFOD is doing a commendable job and we pray for its continued existence.”
The parents inquired whether there would be any
assistance given to them after the child’s recovery and they were told that the child would be enrolled on maternal and child health nutrition (MCHN) up to when the child is 24 months of age.
It is now one month and two weeks since Daniel was enrolled on TSFP. By the end of January, Daniel had a MUAC of 13.0cm and by end of February 2018, Daniel was discharged with a MUAC of 13.2cm and weight of 9.9Kgs and height of 80.0cm. The parents were grateful for the programme. Below Daniel and his father after discharge from the programme.
