After some hours of delay rising from the failure to mobilize for transportation to the venue for the planned activity, we finally managed to set off at around 11.30 am. The 3 manned team was equipped with buckets, saucepans, a bag of charcoal, plastic plates, cutlery and of course food items including: dry fish, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, cabbages, milk, matooke, soya peas, eggs, avocados, meat, ground nut paste and many other items like you would anticipate to find in a “rich” kitchen.
Food demonstrations are some of the practical interventions in place under the nutrition program that are reached out to the communities on a monthly routine with the aim of imparting knowledge and skills especially to the women (who in most cases look after the young ones and prepare meals at home) on proper food preparation procedures and proper diet compositions.
The open space that is a trading center was our site for the day’s activity much as there were barely any women at the time we arrived. The few women that included a community health worker began work by offloading the items from the van and thereafter washing the utensils. In no time, the lighting of the charcoal stoves was in progress and some women were already fetching water from a nearby water source. The number of the participants was rather giving no hopes at the moment though we were latter informed by one of the women that more members would be soon returning from the gardens. The peeling of the matooke and sweet potatoes kicked off the food preparation and on a good note it was by collective efforts. Lawrence; the nutritionist had earlier informed me that one of the motivations was that excess food is used for the demonstrations so that the active participants eat at the end of the activity.
With the unsatisfactory child nutrition status in the settlement, it necessitated the demonstrations of the preparation of nutritious meals for under 5s especially those above 6 months of age. The cooking thus kicked off with three dishes that were branded “Ekitobero”- fit for such an age group. One of the “ekitobero” dishes comprised smashed fish mixed with ground nut paste, flour and some water which the nutritionist was steamed for close to 45 minutes. The other comprised chopped matooke mixed with locally minced meat, ground nut paste and water that were as well steamed for about an hour. The third dish was a mixture of cow milk, sugar and eggs that was as well steamed for a shorter period of time. The availability of such foods in the community was appreciated by the participants to whom key messages concerning careful and separate preparation of food for under 5s, use of steaming as a preparation method and observing personal hygiene were emphasized. As time went by, more women were all over the place with many coming along with their children. Only a few Congolese refugees were part of the bigger crowd that was composed of Sudanese refugees. Other dishes were demonstrated including; extracting milk from soya peas, preparation of beef stew, preparation of the nutritious pumpkin sauce, rice preparation and preparation of vegetable -ground nuts -fish mixture. Many other health practices such as hygiene, fruit dieting, adequate infant and young child feeding were emphasized. The day long activity concluded with assembling the dishes that had been prepared and reminding the participants of the ingredients and value of each. The bigger excitement swept across the crowd when the time to taste and feast on what they learnt to cook just as the clock ticked to our departure time of 6.00 pm.
Major challenges and gaps for the food demonstration exercise:
. Poor time management rising from inadequate transport facilitation from the office
. Poor community mobilization probably due to wrong timing (villagers being in the gardens) or due to abrupt changes in program by the nutrition department
. Lack of ideal work station/shelter during the activities causes discomfort due to heat from the sun or even rainfall disruption
. Under staffed department of nutrition faces a great challenge in executing its duties.
. Keeping the participants focused and present for the entire activity is difficult thus disrupting effective communication process.
Solutions to the challenges/gaps:
. There is need for improvement in planning and prioritization of nutrition activities by the organization as nutrition plays an equally important role in health promotion and better livelihoods.
. There is need for improved communication and motivation of the community mobilizers for better mobilization services and feedback purposes
. Improvising a tauplin for the nutrition department is a solution for such day long activities for purposes of creating shelter from harsh weather that could also help to keep the participants comfortable thus present for most of demonstration duration.
. More support staff will be beneficial for better service delivery in the nutrition department.
. More creativity through increased active participation of the participants will help to increase their presence for the bigger part of the activities.
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