Working with Mother’s and Father’s Groups in Mozambique for Holistic Growth

Sonya Funna Evelyn Director, Program Technical Support Unit ADRA

ADRA’s History • Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Services (SAWS) created in

1956

• For 20 years SAWS focused on disaster relief projects

• SAWS was reorganized in 1984 and renamed the Adventist Development and Relief Agency

MISSION STATEMENT

ADRA works with people in poverty and distress to create just and positive change through

empowering partnerships and responsible actions.

CORE SECTORS

• Food Security

• Nutrition

• Economic Growth

• Primary Health

• Emergency Relief and Disaster Preparedness

• Education

OSANZAYA ZAMBEZIA – “MAKE ZAMBEZIA HAPPY”

Funding USAID – Title II

Timeline 2008 – 2014

Partners Samaritan’s Purse ADPP

Geographic Coverage

5 districts of Zambezia – Ile, Pebane, Maganja da Costa, Mocuba and Lugela

Context - Income $100/year - Agriculture main economic activity - 50% of adults > 19 years old illiterate - Many communities over 20 miles from

nearest health center

OSANZAYA ZAMBEZIA Goal: To Reduce Food Insecurity in Targeted Five Districts in Zambezia Province

• SO1: Improved Income Growth of 37,500 Rural Beneficiaries

By integrating marketing, increased productivity, and

strengthened value chains of select agriculture products (peanuts,

maize, cow peas, sweet potato and commercialization of cashew nuts).

• SO2: Improved Health and Nutrition Status for 40,000 Beneficiaries

By improved health and nutrition status of children under five, improved

hygiene behaviors, access to sanitation solutions, and adequate clean

water. ( some of SO1 agricultural products to be used in improving child

nutrition)

• Literacy and Numeracy Training

• Disaster Preparedness

• Meet at least every two weeks

• Mitigate health issues in communities including in emergencies

• Receive feedback and reports from all CHWs of their activities

• Representatives (2) meet with local HC staff once a month

• Identify community members with special needs

• Usually done via group counseling sessions and household visitation

• Supervised by project staff who would meet with CLCs daily or weekly

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP COUNCILS (CLC)

MOTHER/FATHER GROUPS • Total of 190 created/strengthened in the project

• 7-15 members in each group

• Met weekly • Trained monthly on Health:

• Detection, care and referral of the sick/malnourished child • Home Based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS) • Reproductive health • Hygiene and Sanitation • Behavior Change Communication

• Nutrition • Breastfeeding, promotion of Vitamin A rich foods, complementary

feeding, food groups and balanced diets • Preparation of enriched porridge • Growth Monitoring

• Increasing yields of selected crops

• Improving post-harvest handling, processing and storage

• Business literacy and numeracy

• Enhancing value chain linkages to producers

• Training on timing of produce marketing

MOTHER/FATHER GROUPS

• Conducted weekly cooking/feeding sessions

• Used crops grown in agriculture and livelihoods activities to make porridge

• Hosted outreach sessions to neighbors on health/nutrition education

• Tracked health and nutrition of specific households

• Worked closely with CHWs

• Assisted with latrine, borehole and well construction

MOTHER/FATHER GROUPS

KEY FINDINGS

Figure 1. Decrease in Portion of Malnourished

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

Baseline(2008)

2010 2011 2012 2013

% of participating children aged 0-23.9 months with weight-for-age z-score <-2

% of participating children aged 0-23.9months with weight-for-age z-score <-2

KEY FINDINGS INDICATOR BASELINE FINAL DIFFERENCE

% of children less than 24 months with diarrhea in the past 2 weeks”

33.8% 28.6% 5.2%

% of caregivers and food preparers using appropriate hand-washing behavior

56.9%

80.6%

23.7%

% target population using latrines

29.4%

53.8%

24.4%

% target population with year round access to improved water source

23.3%

56.70%

33.4%

KEY FINDINGS

Indicator Achievement

Number hygiene promoters trained 4,222

Number caregivers trained in HH hygiene 62,164

Number of caregivers trained in health and nutrition topics 53,252

Pit latrine slabs distributed 3,900

Community leadership councils formed 193

Community health volunteers trained 2,850

Mothers’ and fathers’ groups established 190

Thank You!