Mawa Project

Annual Report for Nutrition Volunteers in Mawa Project December 2014

Introduction Mawa project, led by Catholic Relief Services and in partnership with Caritas , Women for Change, Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust, and University Research Corporation, aims to improve food and economic security for 21,500 households in Chipata and Lundazi districts in ’s Eastern Province. Over five years, the USAID-funded Feed the Future project will reach this goal by providing a package of services that will increase and diversify agricultural production for nutrition and markets, improve household health and nutritional status, and increase incomes and productive assets. Mawa ensures gender-sensitive programming through its household approach, which is based on regular and inclusive dialogues to appreciate how gender norms, roles and beliefs influence household decisions and gains related to agriculture, nutrition and incomes. Mawa implements activities in 19 agricultural camps in Chipata and Lundazi districts in the Eastern Province of Zambia.

Mawa’s health and nutrition strategy uses the Care Group model to promote adoption of positive health, hygiene and nutrition practices and consumption of nutrient-dense foods, focusing on prevention of malnutrition for pregnant and lactating women and children under two. Based on this model, the project relies on community-based nutrition volunteers to reach 12,500 of the most vulnerable households – those with pregnant or lactating women or children under two, the most critical period for a child’s healthy growth and development – with health and nutrition messages and to negotiate simple ways caregivers can change behavior to improve household nutrition. Additionally, Mawa implements community-led complementary feeding and learning sessions (CCFLS) as an approach to prevent moderate acute malnutrition among children under two. Through group cooking sessions, CCFLS promotes the use of locally-produced, high-nutrient crops to improve dietary diversity and nutrient value, and promotes optimal and reinforces culturally accepted positive infant and young child feeding and caregiving practices. Regular and consistent follow-up visits, particularly to those referred to CCFLS or to the local health facility for additional nutrition assessment, counseling and support services, are essential to provide continued support to households as they try new practices and to encourage lasting behavior change.

Bicycle distribution under Mawa In May 2014, 959 Mawa nutrition volunteers in 18 areas of Chipata and Lundazi districts in Eastern Province, Zambia, received bicycles from World Bicycle Relief (WBR) (Table 1). Without these bicycles, the nutrition volunteers could not properly provide educational messages and household visits to their communities. Each nutrition volunteer has 10 households to visit every month as well as monitoring demonstration garden plots, participating in CCFLS, conducting follow-up visits, attending community health events – all in addition to their regular daily tasks and activities. Without the bicycles from World Bicycle Relief this would not be possible. This report contains statistics on distribution of bicycles as well as community and personal stories from nutrition volunteers on the positive impacts the bicycles have had in their daily lives and in their communities. For most of these volunteers it is the first bicycle they have ever owned.

Page | 2

Table 1: Distribution of Bicycles by Location Agricultural Camp Number of bicycles distributed Total Males Females Chipata Chiteu 2 48 50 Katondo 1 50 51 Kwenje 0 60 60 Mzapawi 3 37 40 Ng’ongwe 5 59 64 Pwata 3 45 48 Samuel 10 54 64 Shamombo 9 43 52 Lundazi Chimwala 9 41 50 Chiwe 11 29 40 Kamzoole 9 51 60 Kapichila 1 59 60 Malandula 20 40 60 Mankhaka 13 37 50 Mkomba 11 39 50 Munyukwa 16 44 60 Mwase II 13 37 50 Ntithimila 12 38 50 TOTAL 148 811 959

As demonstrated in the above table, the majority of nutrition volunteers are female, mostly because of the nature of the health and nutrition topics taught. Men, however, are still an integral part of child care and feeding so it is beneficial to have male nutrition volunteers promoting good child care to ensure that all children grow to be smart, healthy and strong. The nutrition volunteers use the bicycle primarily for commuting to and from care group meetings, household visits, CCFLS sessions, follow-up visits, trips to health facilities, and other Mawa events. The bicycles also support nutrition volunteers in their regular daily activities, such as transporting children to school or to the clinic or buying and selling crops in more distant markets.

The motivation that the bicycles have provided nutrition volunteers to do their work is evident in the number of household visits conducted in April, before receiving the bicycles, compared to May, after receiving the bicycles. Upon receiving bicycles, Mawa nutrition volunteers completed 255 more household visits compared to the month prior to receiving bicycles (9,186 visits in April, compared to 9,441 visits completed in May). In addition, participation in the monthly care group meetings in May was essentially 100% (957 nutrition volunteers attended). Reaching such high numbers in May – during the harvest season when many people are busy in their fields – is very challenging, but the bicycles allowed volunteers to find their neighbors even if they were staying near their fields or if the volunteer had to return to the home multiple times to complete the lesson.

Page | 3

Stories from Nutrition Volunteers The bicycles have truly impacted the lives of individual nutrition volunteers as well as Mawa communities. Below are the stories of how WBR bicycles have changed the lives of two nutrition volunteers, the impact of the bicycles for one care group, and how the bicycles have supported an important Mawa health and nutrition activity, CCFLS.

Martha Zulu, Nutrition Volunteer, Kalungwizi Care Group, Shamombo Camp, Chipata, Zambia Martha Zulu is a nutrition volunteer in Shamombo camp, Eastern Province of Zambia. She lives in Kasinje village with three young children Jesse, Matipasa and Benard. Her daily activities include household chores such as sweeping her house, cooking meals, bathing her children, and washing clothes. In addition to her work as a nutrition volunteer, she is also a farmer, so spends a lot of time in her garden and field. As a volunteer, she attends monthly Care Group meetings to learn about improving nutrition in households, specifically for children. Currently she is learning about complementary feeding for children six months to two years old and encouraging families to plant a variety of nutritious foods in their gardens. After the monthly meetings, she visits her ten households to teach these skills. These households live very far from each other so it has been very difficult for Martha to teach and monitor the progress of her households.

Since receiving the bicycle from WBR, Martha is now able to visit her households daily and assist them in adopting the new practices that she teaches. The bicycle has made her life and work easier. In addition to Mawa activities, she is able to bicycle to the clinic if her children or neighbor gets sick and use it to transport crops to markets. Her children also use the bicycle to travel to school every day. “This is my first bicycle that I have ever owned!” says Martha. “It has become my best resource in life and really helps me, my children and my job as a nutrition volunteer.” She is very happy and grateful for Mawa project and World Bicycle Relief.

Figure 1. Martha and her three boys, Jesse, Matipasa and Benard.

Page | 4

Mabel Mwanza, Nutrition Volunteer, Tigwilizane Care Group, Ng’ongwe Camp, Chipata, Zambia

Mabel Mwanza is a nutrition volunteer in Ng’ongwe camp, in Zambia’s Eastern Province. She lives in Itan village with her husband, Timony Nkomba, and five children Elizabeth, Anastasia, Susan, Taunga and Trevor. Her daily routine consists of regular household chores, like sweeping the house, cooking meals and caring for the children. Since it is planting season, Mabel is also very busy in her field and garden. As a Mawa nutrition volunteer she attends monthly Care Group meetings with other nutrition volunteers in the area and learns about improving nutrition, specifically for pregnant and lactating women and children under two. She then visits and teaches her ten households – neighboring households with pregnant or lactating women and children under two – in her community. Although they are called “neighbor households,” these families all live in different villages. Before receiving her bicycle, it was very difficult for Mabel to visit and teach each of her ten households every month like she was supposed to, especially during the busy planting season when she might have to go to the household multiple times to find the family at home.

Since receiving the bicycle, Mabel can now visit and monitor her households with ease. “Before I would have to ask to borrow a bicycle or walk very far, but now I have my own!” she says. Mabel is now able to go farther distances for trainings in addition to helping visit households in more remote villages. “At the moment I am working on demonstration gardens and complimentary feeding for children under two,” says Mabel. She is able to visit the households more frequently and monitor their progress more accurately. She is also a member of the local area association, which helps conduct community engagements and household dialogues related to gender issues under Mawa. As a member of the area association, she attends meetings and makes community and household visits – activities that the WBR bicycle has supported her to be able to do. The bicycle has not only made it easier for her to do her work under the project, but it has also helped her with her other daily responsibilities. Apart from Mawa activities, she is now able to bicycle to the clinic if her children get sick and use it to transport crops to market.

Figure 2. Alida Daka (far left) with Mabel (far right) and her children

Page | 5

Mabel’s bicycle is also making an impact in her community. Mabel’s friend and neighbor in the village, Alida Daka, has a son who is deaf and they have been working together to teach him how to ride the bicycle. “He is so happy to have the opportunity to learn” says Alida. “My bicycle means so much to me. I use it every day to visit my households to discuss improving nutrition in the homes,” adds Mabel. Like Martha, Mabel is very happy and grateful for the Mawa project and World Bicycle Relief.

Bicycles Help with CCFLS CCFLS is one of the major activities that the nutrition volunteers of Mawa project participate in. These sessions bring together caregivers – mothers and fathers of children six to 23 months old – from different villages to promote proper feeding and build skills to care for children that are mildly malnourished. The 12-day session tries to improve the weight and overall health of these children as well as teach the caregivers valuable lessons on nutritious recipes and health, nutrition and sanitation practices. Nutrition volunteer Charity Nkoswe of Chiwe camp, Lundazi, leads a CCFLS session in her community for 15 mildly malnourished children. The session took place about five kilometers from her home so each day she organized the two-hour lesson and distributed the lesson to the 15 caregivers and their children. After the 12-day course, she will continue to monitor the growth of the children, support caregivers to continue the new practices that they learned at home, and educate the caregivers to ensure that the child continues to grow into a smart, healthy and strong child.

Since the start of CCFLS, the work load for nutrition volunteers has increased and the need for a bicycle for reliable transport is even more necessary. CCFLS started in June and referrals started in July. Since July, nutrition volunteers have been holding CCFLS in different communities where they work. Not only do the nutrition volunteers organize the 12-day class, but they also do monthly follow-up visits to each of the participants – in addition to the regular monthly visit made to the household to share the monthly lesson – to ensure positive growth, proper hygiene and care of the children, and that pregnant women carry out a safe and healthy pregnancy. Since July, over 900 children under two years and 100 pregnant or lactating women were referred to CCFLS. As a result, the need for bicycles is greater than ever before.

Figure 3. Charity Nkoswe (left), a nutrition volunteer in Chiwe camp, , is monitoring Jester Nyrinda and her 1 ½ year old daughter Previous Phiri, CCFLS participants, about proper child care.

Page | 6

Mwazanjala Care Group, Mzapawi Camp, Chipata, Zambia Mwazanjala Care Group meets every month with health promoter Violet Lungu in Mzapawi village to discuss the monthly nutrition lesson for Mawa project. Mwazanjala – which means “taking away hunger” in Nyanja, the local language of Eastern Province – Care Group is comprised of 10 nutrition volunteers. The group was started in September 2013 and volunteers were constantly struggling with transportation to visit their households until May, when the bicycles were distributed. Villages in Mzapawi camp are quite spread out, but Violet says that, with the bicycles, all the nutrition volunteers can now do their jobs with ease. In addition to using bicycles for transport to household and follow-up visits, the nutrition volunteers use the bicycles to take sick children to the clinic and to attend different community health events. Community leader John Zulu, who is also a member of an area association for Mawa project, is also very thankful to World Bicycle Relief for their contribution to the nutrition volunteers in Mzapawi village. “I have seen these nutrition volunteers really helping the community. They use the bicycles to travel long distances visiting households as well as taking sick children to the clinic. The clinic in our area is a two hour walk but with a bicycle it is only about 30 minutes.” Mr. Zulu also recognizes the important contributions the nutrition volunteers are able to make in their communities as a result of the WBR bicycles.

With the long journeys to the clinic and to make household visits each day, nutrition volunteers have already put many kilometers on their bicycles. But nutrition volunteer Margret Mwale comments that, despite the long trips to the clinic and households, “the bicycle is strong like a buffalo, it does not break down.” Most nutrition volunteers agree with Margret, but some have expressed concern regarding lack of access to spare bicycle parts and proper maintenance in their communities. The WBR bicycles are designed differently than the typical Zambian bicycles found in these communities, so spare parts are difficult to find. Mawa communities also still lack someone with adequate training on maintenance and replacing parts, as was originally discussed between WBR and Mawa. Mawa has reached out to local WBR staff to continue these discussions and address the concerns of the nutrition volunteers.

Figure 4. Left: Nutrition volunteers Margaret Mwale and Gertrude Mwale biking to a care group meeting. Right: Mwazanjala care group after their monthly meeting, where they were taught a lesson about improved breastfeeding practices. Throughout December, these volunteers will share the lesson with their neighbor households.

Page | 7

Impact on Mawa Project Providing WBR bicycles has had a substantial impact on the lives of individual nutrition volunteers, as well as on Mawa project as a whole. The bicycles have allowed Mawa to have a greater reach throughout project communities, greater efficiency in project activities, and have provided greater respect and motivation among nutrition volunteers. As nutrition volunteers graduate households whose children have grown beyond two years of age from their groups and invite new households with pregnant or lactating women and children under two to join their groups, they can now reach out to households that are located in more remote villages. Since receiving the bicycles, nutrition volunteers are now able to reach these households that live in remote areas, providing them a chance to learn important nutrition messages and support in trying new health and nutrition practices.

The bicycles also allow for greater efficiencies within the project. Now, Mawa can meet with larger groups of nutrition volunteers in a central place, for example, to distribute health and nutrition messages and learning materials, kitchen garden demonstration inputs such as watering cans, seeds, and orange flesh sweet potato vines and tubers. Previously, Mawa could not ask multiple groups of nutrition volunteers to meet together in one spot because a central location would require some volunteers to travel very far. With the transport the bicycles provide, this has become possible.

As previously mentioned, the majority of Mawa’s nutrition volunteers are women. The bicycles provided by WBR have empowered the women in their communities. Typically, even if a household has a bicycle, the women rarely have access to it. These bicycles have allowed Mawa nutrition volunteers to do good work to help improve nutrition among the most vulnerable while gaining lasting respect within their communities.

Page | 8