What an honor was to have the Mayor of Nyanza give us a warm greeting after we entered his District. He was proud to show us the different programs that are underway under his watch as UNICEF is one of only a few partners to support the work conducted in this District. We were extremely flattered to have the opportunity to meet him.
The district is mostly rural with a population of about 250,000. Their first priority is to give hope and aid to the recovery of the people in the District. A new judicial system has been implemented in 2005 which is bringing people to trial who have committed human rights crimes during the genocide. Their second priority is to focus attention on the occurrance of HIV in the area and reduce infant mortality.
"One cow, one family" encourages more agriculture to the community by granting each family a cow. More milk for the family and more fertilizer - a "gift" from the cow - will be beneficial to the progress of better agricultural practices. Eventually the cows are eaten but more of these families consume goat for their protein. Finally, about 60% of the population receives clean water which comes from the local springs. Nutrition education, hygiene, and malaria reduction are also given great attention.
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| © U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Rusanganwa |
There are about 100,000 children in the District and 42% of them are under 18. The goal is to have every child reach grade 6 but, as can be expected, it would be preferable for them to reach grade 11.
We first went to Busoro where people get tested for HIV. Approximately 80% of the women are now coming with their husbands which is a huge advancement from what had been happening in the past. Antenatal care, HIV testing and results are all conducted in one day so when people have to walk for hours to get to the clinic, this kind of attention makes it more attractive for patients to get tested. An antiretroviral program was initiated by UNICEF to treat HIV+ patients as well as a grant to provide funding for health insurance which costs each person 1,000 francs per person per year. This equals less than $2 for a year of health insurance!
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| © U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Rusanganwa |
We then went to the community weigh-in clinic which took place under a tree in the neighborhood. Malnutrition is a big problem in the rural areas as it has increased from 4% to 7.5% since 1994. With the implementation of a community health care worker program in the area, locals are trained to teach mothers proper nutrition for the infants. Even though they are poor, they are getting more of what they need nutritionally. Before each session, the women are counseled on better feeding habits leading to improved nutrition. These sessions take place one time per month and they rate the child's growth, based on a monitoring growth chart, is tracked on a health card. UNICEF has provided the scales, the growth charts, health cards, as well as the training over 1,000 mentors who now conduct growth monitoring for children under 5 years old in 362 communities.
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| © U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Rusanganwa |
To supplement the nutrition program, a women's cooperative has been created that provides food for the community. There are 39 of these coops in the District of Nyanza (population 250,000) and 9 of them are in Busoro. In each group there are about 25 women who manage the lots of land granted by the government where they grow food for themselves and then sell the rest. The goal is to enable them to pay for their own health insurance and buy their own mosquito nets. This program has reduced malnutrition from 7% to 2% in about 2 years. While other problems still exist, such as malaria, there is significant progress in the health of this community.
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| © U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Rusanganwa |
It does, indeed, take a village.