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Success Story
USAID program turns
women into health
agents for their families
and communities in rural
Liberia
Nutrition Education Sustains Generations
Photo: Samaritan’s Purse\LIAP
Fatta Mento is raising grandson Febyah
in Lofa County Liberia and attends USAID
nutrition classes in her village.
“My mind now tells me that
Febyah is coming on fine. I
thank God for the program,”
said Fatta Mento, maternal
grandmother and sole
caretaker of baby grandson
Febyah.
Sange and her husband rejoiced on the discovery of expecting a
child. But six months after welcoming a healthy baby boy named
Febyah, Sange passed away from an unknown illness. After
his mother’s death, Febyah’s father abandoned him, leaving
him with his maternal grandmother. In her late fifties and taking
care of an infant, Fatta Mento did not have the resources or
knowledge to keep Febyah nourished.
In June of 2009, USAID entered the village of Popalahun in
Lofa County to conduct Behavior Change Community Education
sessions. USAID is teaching women how to properly take care of
their children. The women learn which healthy foods to prepare
for their children; how to avoid malaria; how, when and where
to wash hands; when they should go to the nearest health
clinic or hospital; how and when to use Oral Rehydration Salts
to stop diarrhea, and other important health tips. Mothers with
malnourished children and those that have children from 6-36
months attend the weekly sessions.
The USAID team met Mento and a malnourished Febyah, and
encouraged her to attend the health sessions. Now a healthy
toddler, Febyah takes everything around him in through his
beautiful, big brown eyes. Mento is grateful for the USAID
program. “My mind now tells me that Febyah is coming on fine. I
thank God for the program. I thank God,” she said.
Sharing what they learned in the sessions, the village women in
Mento’s group know how to tell if a child is malnourished – by
the color of their eyes, the swelling in their stomachs and feet,
and the color of their hair. They speak of how malaria has gone
down dramatically since the sessions started. Two of these
women had lost children to malaria. Too many children had died
of malnourishment to count. Their eyes express both regret and
thankfulness for their newfound knowledge.
“Before, I didn’t know about malnutrition. Through the USAID
program I found out that my child was a yellow card! I learned
how to prepare food for my child and now he is a green card!
Before, he didn’t have an appetite for food. Not anymore! I told
my friends and they too are changing their ways,” said Kihed
Kamara, another woman in Mento’s group helping to spread
healthy practices in their Popalahun village.
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