“FIGHTING AGAINST MALNUTRITION: CT FOOD AND NUTRITION COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS PROMOTE HEALTHY COOKING IN COMMUNITIES”
In Malawi, access to information about nutrition is limited and the Karonga Diocese is one of the organizations on the forefront seeking to end this through its Community Transformation (CT) Project which has food and nutrition as one of its components. In this spirit, Karonga Diocese CT (Food and Nutrition) conducted cooking demonstrations in the areas of Jalawe, Chankholombe and Kopakopa which were meant to impart knowledge to its beneficiaries about the 6 groups of foods and how to cook different foods that are nutritious.
The cooking demonstrations were conducted by Karonga Diocese CT(Food and Nutrition) Coordinator Grace Kondowe and the training’s began with a simple Question and Answer session to refresh the participants on the 6 healthy food groups and food preservation methods. Thereafter the participants were taught recipes that they can cook with locally sourced materials and conducted practical cooking exercises under the supervision of the CT-Food and Nutrition Coordinator and volunteers.
“The main purpose of the training is to equip the beneficiaries with skills on how they can diversify meals and foods using locally available six food groups and how to preserve food materials that they may be available even when such foods are not in season. We encourage the people to use locally available food materials that are grown and found in the village to create the meals,” said Grace.
CT Food and Nutrition is part of the Community Transformation Project which is being implemented by the Karonga Diocese with assistance from Cross Catholic Outreach in the areas of Village Heads Jalawe, Chankholombe and Kopakopa. The materials used during the cooking demonstrations were sourced by the beneficiaries in their respective areas.
CT-NUTRITION FOR HEALTHY FAMILIES
“Our families have improved a lot since the introduction of the project and we have learnt how to prepare meals that contain all six food groups making our families healthier and happier”, says Christina Harawa (53) a mother of 5 from Mulyabweka Village, T/A Chankholombe. She is one of the 1,528 beneficiaries in the Community Transformation project which the Karonga Diocese is implementing with assistance from Cross Catholic Outreach.
Christina went on to further state that “We never used to know about the six food groups and as a result our families used to be malnourished, however, through the project we have gained knowledge, and we are very grateful to the Diocese for this project which has impacted our families in a positive way”.
Community Transformation Project volunteer for Chankholombe area Fyness Msukwa states that she has seen changes in her community since the introduction of the project. “The community is more hygienic and healthier since the introduction of the project as we used to have different foods available in the community but did not know how to prepare them correctly for them to contain all six food groups. Our children used to get sick regularly because of malnutrition and poor hygiene but with the project, our children are healthier, and I advise fellow beneficiaries in the project to follow the instructions given to us by the project officers in-order to fully benefit from the project” she said.
