Nutrition
The project was initiated after a huge community health intervention that Caritas Freetown carried out during the post-Ebola intervention with support from the Spanish Cooperation and Manos Unidas while trying to rebuild public confidence in the healthcare system in Sierra Leone. This project covered over 65 communities in the Western Area Urban and Rural.
The improved nutritional intervention project commenced in 2017 to improve the health condition of malnourished children and integrates lactating mothers and pregnant women to increase their knowledge on the preparation of high-protein food for their children.
Between 2017 and 2023, approximately, over 2000 malnourished children and their lactating mothers and caregivers, and over 1,500 pregnant women have benefited from the project in 45 communities in the Western Urban and Rural Area District.
Over 2,000 lactating mothers and caregivers of malnourished children gained knowledge on the preparation of high-protein diet food and good hygiene practices which helped their children or ward to be moved from the state of acute and severe malnutrition. Also, 1,500 pregnant women gained knowledge on the preparation of high protein powder, the importance of eating iron giving vegetables, ante-natal and post-natal visits, exclusive breastfeeding for six months and natural family planning. Additionally, community inhabitants were educated on the dangers of malnutrition and how to prevent or handle it. The aim of the project is to provide integrated nutritional interventions for malnourished children and women in the Western Area.