Reaching Children’s Potential in Tanzania: Welcoming New Moms to the Program in April
Every month, Global Volunteers’ caregivers in the Ukwega Ward of Tanzania meet with families who wish to participate in the Reaching Children’s Potential (RCP) Demonstration Program. The goal of RCP is to eliminate childhood stunting in all five of the villages served: Ipalamwa, Mkalanga, Lulindi, Ukwega, and Makungu. Specifically, families obtain the nutrition, health care, knowledge, technology, and encouragement needed to combat stunting, and to ensure their children can realize their full potential. We’re happy to welcome two new moms to the RCP “family” this month!
Catherine Chuma was born and raised in Ukwega village, where she attended Ukwega Primary School. She is 17 years old. She works in agriculture for a living and grows mostly maize and beans. She is one month pregnant with her first child. Catherine has relatives and neighbors who are enrolled in the RCP Program. She says that she has heard that the program provides education to women through workshops and that education allows them to successfully raise a healthy family. She says that she decided to join the program to get education on various issues such as nutrition, pregnancy, and hygiene. She hopes to be able to learn skills to be able to raise a healthy family. Catherine shares that her culture greatly values its tradition of paying a dowry when a woman gets married. She also says that her elders have taught her to respect all people regardless of their age.
Mwanaharusi Moyo was born and raised in Songea Region where she completed primary and secondary school education. She is 33 years old. She also works in agriculture for a living, growing mostly beans and corn. In 2019 she got married in Songea Region and then she and her husband had their first child, Sabra, who is now a year old. Soon after Sabra was born, Mwanaharusi and her family moved to Makungu village. Mwanaharusi’s neighbors and fellow church members in Makungu village are enrolled in the RCP Program. She says she has heard that the program focuses on eliminating stunting in children by providing families in the program with nutrition education, nutritious porridge, and free medical services at Ipalamwa General Clinic. She decided to join the program because she wants to benefit in the same ways that she has seen that her neighbors have benefitted from the program. She hopes that by participating in the RCP Program, she will attend workshops at the RCP Center and learn more on how to raise a healthy and happy family. Mwanaharusi says that she has been taught by her elders that when visitors are seated at your home, you should not sweep the ground as that is a sign of chasing them out.
About RCP’s Focus on Stunting:
Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psycho-social stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization’s Child Growth Standards median. Global Volunteers’ RCP Program is a child-focused, parent-driven, family-centered, and community-led comprehensive effort beginning with pregnancy and continuing through the 18th birthday, focusing on the first 1,000 days of life. Ending stunting is the goal of the RCP Program in the Ukwega Ward in central Tanzania. Learn more here.
You can help these and over 750 other RCP mothers learn how to enable their children to reach their full potential. Support Global Volunteers’ RCP Program with a monthly or one-time gift now, and join a future service program to bring important resources to families in the Ukwega Ward.
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