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n villages across southern Mali, groups of mothers gather together to make porridge. While this might sound mundane, these meetings are far from ordinary. For the women, the porridge sessions could mean the difference between life and death for their children.
In Mali, 19% of children will die before their fifth birthday - often from preventable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia, which are exacerbated by malnutrition. Tackling this malnutrition involves not just having enough food, but the right foods. Children particularly need the correct amounts of minerals, vitamins and calories for healthy development. This is why porridge is making such a huge difference in some of the poorest communities in Mali.
Working through local organisation, Jeunesse et Developpement (J&D), in the Sikasso region, the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) supports nutrition and cooking programmes, where mothers are shown how to make a nutritious porridge using locally available ingredients, such as ground-up cereal and dried fish. The porridge contains the essential nutrients that babies and children need to grow, reducing their risk of developing weak immune systems and contracting illnesses such as diarrhoea. It also leads to healthier brain development and a reduced risk of hypertension and coronary heart disease later in life. At the end of the course, the women are encouraged to pass the recipe on to family members and neighbours who have babies.
For Korotim Diakite, who sadly lost two children to illness, the course was beneficial. “I didn’t know how to recognise malnutrition in a child before,” she said. “Now I know what special foods they need to stay healthy and strong.”
The porridge demonstration sessions are just one part of J&D’s strategy to help communities beat malnutrition and disease. MRDF’s partner also identifies women with healthy children, and trains them as mamans lumières - or model mothers - in maternal health and infant nutrition. The women also take part in workshops on good hygiene and sanitation practices, especially as there is such a close link between diarrhoea and malnutrition. The training enables the model mothers to spot early signs of illness and raise awareness of hygiene in relation to disease prevention. The women do follow-up visits after the workshops
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eating. The kitchen needs to be kept spotless so that insects don’t gather, and left-over food needs to be disposed of properly. When I started doing all of these things, my children suffered less from things like diarrhoea and trachoma. Simple techniques and attitude changes can really make a difference to children’s health.”
Amelie Dembele, who trains mamans lumières, said: “I am really proud when a maman lumière takes what we have shown them and is then able to go and do this herself. We cannot be there all the time; we need other people to take this responsibility. I am proud when I see that children are now doing well because the mamans lumières are doing their work well.”
Model mother Habi Sidibe runs a demonstration session showing women how to make healthy, nutritious porridge for their children.
Model mothers in Mali
Audrey Skervin shares details of the work the Methodist Relief and Development Fund is carrying out in Mali to reduce malnutrition in the under 5s
to help the mothers put into practice what they have learnt, and to ensure that the knowledge is shared with others, impacting more and more people in the community.
Mariam Sidibe began her training as a maman lumière after her children attended a health monitoring day; they were some of the healthiest there. Mariam now meets with other mothers and shares advice on good hygiene habits and nutrition.
“In big families, it is really difficult to see what children are eating,” Mariam said. “I have been training women to make sure the little ones get enough food off the main plate at meal times. Keeping clean is also important. I tell families that plates and cups for feeding must be clean, and that every member of the family needs to wash their hands with soap before
Amelie Dembele trains mamans lumières or model mothers so that they can support other women in their communities.
The director of J&D, Mamadou Kone, will be speaking about J&D’s work at a series of MRDF events in April. Visit
www.mrdf.org.uk/roadshows or call 020 7467 5132 to book a place.
The Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) makes small miracles possible for people living in the world’s poorest communities, through long-term development, emergency relief and campaigning against the causes of poverty. For more information, visit
www.mrdf.org.uk.
As a result of MRDF’s work through J&D and another partner in Mali, malnutrition has dropped from 45% to just 7% in under-fives in some areas. An increased awareness of hygiene has reduced the incidence of waterborne diseases and diarrhoea in some communities by 70%.
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