I just recently found out that Kayanga, the name of my village, means "little onion". This is oddly appropriate due to a recently developed bad habit of eating raw onions like apples. Food variety is limited and hard to come by; the majority of crops grown in the fields are maize meal and some green leafy vegetables. After five nights of rice and beans or porridge I turn to onions, the only store bought vegetable that lasts for weeks. The point is that people here, including yours truly, do not have access to nutritious foods or are not aware of their importance. One of my newest projects, the one I am most excited about, is a new nutrition initiative. My primary focus thus far has been geared towards HIV since my official job title is a Community Health and AIDS Prevention Volunteer and because it is such an obvious problem in Namibia. However, there is no denying the presence of malnutrition in Kayanga in even more abundance than HIV. It is an unnerving realization, but in a village with no clinic, no jobs or even a secondary school I am technically the most qualified health person living here (I may have to battle out with the traditional healers for that title though). And trust me, I only know the basics. But I do know what foods have protein, what protein is, and what a lack of it can do to a child, so I can pass on that knowledge. The best part is the nutrition program revolves 100% around the staple food here; porridge.
The nutrition program, Hearth, first tried out in West Africa, is designed to show women first hand how to better nourish their young by cooking and teaching with locally grown ingredients rich in protein. Eggs, for example, are readily available but never used to eat, only to produce more chickens to then kill. The reasoning behind it: a whole chicken will feed more people than an egg, makes complete sense. The challenge lies in proving to these woman that protein from an egg can better nourish the young child to avoid easily preventable illnesses and cut down on clinic fees, never mind the added stress of a sick child. This program is a two week challenge. An initial weighing of each child is done, followed by a 2 week feeding program completely designed around ingredients that are grown locally and not store bought, then an end weighing to see if the child gained weight. It is essentially the complete opposite of American weight loss reality shows.
 |
| combining the eggs and porridge |
 |
|
My favorite part of this program has been shocking people. I have spend a full year being the one being shocked and skeptical of things. When I informed the women we were going to put eggs in their porridge they were just humoring me by going along with the idea. But then we did it...and it tasted exactly the same, but with way more nutritional value! After that they started giving into my crazy ideas. Next, we tried yogurt next, from scratch! Even though I could have just hitch hiked the 170 km to town to buy milk, we did it the only plausible way women in Kayanga could...we milked the cow, added the active bacteria cultures, let it sit in the sun for a day and then boom-the most nutritious food for a baby with diarrhea. This feels a little late to have started this project because of two reasons; duh of course I should have been focusing my efforts on the malnutrition problem, but two...my mom wisely asked me months ago- “Don't they have milking cows? Why don’t they use the eggs?” So mom, giving you a some credit on this one.
Currently I am experimenting all the recipes with my fabulous women's group, with exciting ingredients such as; pumpkin, mangoes, beans, bananas, papayas and sweet potatoes. In April, I hope to bring the whole program out to a group of about 7-10 woman (working small scale) to begin combining the recipes with daily health sessions on; family planning, first aid, breastfeeding, hygiene, etc in combination with of course, the weight gain challenge. With this project I have had so much fun and fulfillment from seeing the other women gain confidence in themselves and their parenting. They read and follow the recipes all on their own, and after months of facilitating various health sessions, I get to sit in the background and watch them as they pass on that same knowledge to the young school girls; adding humor, dramas, local myths and real life scenarios that only they know best.
