Keeled over in the dead grass, heaving under the oppressive sun, a bare child hacks out a speck of spittle. Pawing at the ground, the child begs. Hungry, thirsty, dying.
This scene may not be intimately known in Western circles. It is held out of arm's reach, seen on television, read in newspapers, heard from those ringing bells on busy street corners asking for change. As easy as it may be to avert one’s eyes, turn the page, change the channel, to ignore, it as hard as it is for this child to endure. Food, water, life may be a comfort for some, but for the child licking at burnt dust it is a foreign privilege.
The ages when most American children shed their “baby-fat,” boys and girls the same age in Mozambique possess no “baby-fat” of which to speak. Twenty-four percent of children under the age of five in Mozambique are underweight. They are starving to death and thirsty for change.
The Model Mothers program offers that change. The program gives these malnourished children the chance to survive their baby teeth. According to UNICEF, “Model Mothers groups are composed of volunteers who agree to teach other mothers good nutrition habits. The approach is part of a community-outreach strategy aimed at improving nutritional practices in rural areas.”
In Mozambique, volunteers like Anabela Muchuza and Rosa Ernesto believe they are making a difference. They are teaching mothers who must survive on limited means how to provide nutritious meals for their children. “We show mothers how to make the best use of foods that they can easily find here in the market, such as eggs, groundnuts, maize, flour, vegetables, sugar, salt, local fruit and others,” said Ms. Ernesto. And any concerns that the program may not be embraced by the local mothers have been erased by the lines surrounding Ms. Muchuza’s Lumbo Health Center.
The Model Mothers program is not solely focused on Africa. Volunteer groups have sprung up in Laos as well. Unlike America, where prenatal care is treated as seriously as the entire birth process, many mothers in Laos are unaware of healthy guidelines to follow while pregnant. This lack of knowledge has resulted in high infant mortality rates. According to World Vision International, two years ago Model Mother training began to put an end to these tragic numbers by educating local mothers on family planning, HIV and AIDS prevention, vaccinations, proper hygiene and care and how to access medical care. According to Khamman Sisouvanh, a mother of four who attends Model Mother seminars in Lao’s Pakkading District, “Before Model Mother training, women did not have much credibility when they tried to help other women during pregnancy. Now that we are being taught by health officials, people are more willing to listen… Being a Model Mother is more than just sharing lessons with others, it’s also about demonstrating good motherhood yourself.”
In Laos, as in Mozambique, the Model Mother program has planted a seed in local mothers that has spread throughout the region. With the Model Mothers program, the image of bony children shivering under the hot sun, scratching the dirt to dig for water, is steadily diminishing.
Source: BecauseAction.com
