DRC. How Cooking Demonstrations Can Save lLives in a Village: the Story of Kasendami Muamba

Sep 9, 2024 | COOPI
View Original

In the heart of Central Kasai Province, in the Kalomba Health Zone, lies the village of Tshitadi, where the fight against child malnutrition is making great strides thanks to the “Programme for the implementation of community-based nutrition services in the province of Kasai Central” funded by the World Bank and implemented by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale since August 2023. The goal of the two-year project is to increase access, utilization and integration of a package of nutrition services at the community level and in health facilities in Kasai, Kasai Central, Kwilu and South Kivu provinces.  Among the many lives touched by the project is that of Kasendami Muamba, a mother and janitor of children in the village of Tshitadi.

It is precisely within Ms. Kasendami's community that COOPI is carrying out one of the project's key activities, with the help of local partner Social Development Center: organizing cooking demonstrations to show mothers of young infants aged 0-59 months alternatives for creating nutritious meals. The demonstrations were a lifeline for Kasendami and her baby, who was beginning to show signs of moderate acute malnutrition. Concerned about her baby's health, Kasendami-Muamba promptly shared her situation with the program's technical supervisors, who gave her valuable advice on how to prepare soup enriched with local foods in order to improve the child's condition.