Awareness is Key to Proper Health and Nutrition

Phan Thi Phuong of the small community of Tay Giang is a hard-working mother of four, including three-and-a-half year old Thuy Linh. Phuong never knew that her daughter, who weighed 8 kilograms at that time, was malnourished, until Counterpart together with the Quang Binh Department of Health conducted a health survey in her community. According to national standards, Thuy Linh should have weighed at least 10.6 kilograms at her age.

“I did not know my daughter was malnourished until the project workers came to weigh her. I became sad and worried to learn that my child was malnourished,” related Phuong.

Her family is considered one of the poorest households in Tay Giang. While her husband was away in the forest, she had to work on their field and take care of their farm animals. This took a lot of her time and she could not properly care for their children, much less bring her children for health check-ups at the commune health center.

When she joined the nutrition education and rehabilitation center in her community, she learned how to prepare nutritious meals using locally available produce. “We came to the center 9 times a month to share our experiences in caring for children besides cooking meals for the malnourished children. I only know that when I took part in the project, I realized that I used to care for my children improperly," related Phuong. Besides the center, Phuong also learned from the monthly health dissemination sessions and home visits organized in her community, especially on how to deal with common illnesses among children.

She remembered how her 10-year old child used to always have diarrhea growing up and she did not know how to treat it. As a result her child was sickly. She used to only follow the advices of her neighbors. “Now I know what I should do if my child has diarrhea,” Phuong declared. “Look at my daughter, she is no longer on the list of malnourished children! She now weighs 12 kilos!”

Aside from the health sessions, all children from 3 to 9 years old in her commune were de-wormed twice a year. All pregnant women were checked and monitored. Hopefully, the new knowledge and practices will stay in the communities, since Counterpart’s project relied on and built-up the know-how of key local people who were the project’s village health collaborators. Fortunately in Tay Giang, the community has continued the practices started by the project and are regularly monitoring their children’s weights.

August 3rd, 2007 | Tags: education, malnutrition, mothers, nutrition, Vietnam, women | Category: Impact Stories

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