 |
Preparation of meal fortified with soya flour |
One of the most underdeveloped parts of Ghana is the Gushegu district which is occupied by 400 small villages with a population of around 126,000.
Education in this region is very poor. Only half of children go to primary school and many of these do not finish. Of those who do, 80% cannot read fluently, often due to overcrowded classes and a lack of resources and well-trained teachers. Only 15% of boys and 2% of girls go to secondary school and many finish with results too poor to offer many job or further education opportunities. This then impacts the development of the district.
Around 35% of all children under-5 are malnourished and 10% are severely malnourished although there is no famine. This is mainly due to a lack of knowledge about healthy balanced nutrition and when to introduce normal food to babies in addition to breastmilk.
Neesim Nutrition Centre
Having built up a very successful local primary and high school some years ago (now under the care of the local church), tackling malnutrition is currently the prime focus of PartnerAid’s local partner, Project Share, through the Neesim Nutrition Centre. The Centre provides vital rehabilitation to malnourished children alongside education for their mothers, carers and wider community on healthy nutrition and hygienic living.
Typically they treat children with either body wasting due to the late introduction of complementary feeding or the failure to provide a balanced diet, or oedema (body swelling) due to a specific lack of protein. However they have also begun to treat an increasing number of small babies whose mothers have died or are unable to breastfeed.
So far over 800 mothers and children have come to stay at the centre. Most stay for an average of 8-10 weeks and the transformation in the children can be incredible. Just as importantly, after hearing about healthy nutrition and hygiene, and practicing it at the centre, the mothers leave equipped to care for their families well.
Neesim Nutrition Centre also conducts outreaches into the local communities to provide education on nutrition and to screen for malnourished children.
In July 2015 a borehole was sunk to provide clean piped water to the nutrition centre, school and local community.
Somed
Somed’s* mother died and he was sent to live with his grandmother who struggled to care for him. When Somed was 9 months old she brought him to Neesim Nutrition Centre. He weighed just 6.5 kg. Somed was put on a special milk diet before transitioning to normal locally-available foods. Within two months he weighed 8.4kg. On the day of discharge his Grandmother said “kokoduunim shiri neeri kpimba” (the nutrition centre people can resurrect the dead!). *Assumed name