Better nutrition helping Khishge prepare for next milestone

“Come to mummy, Khishge,” says a beaming Urana as her one-year-old daughter excitedly begins crawling. Urana is eagerly waiting for when the rosy-cheeked girl starts to walk, a precious moment that can’t be far off for the rapidly growing baby.

Just a few months ago, however, the infant’s lack of physical growth was of great concern.

“When she was a small baby, she was underweight and very weak,” Urana says. “She didn’t have any appetite and easily got sick. We regularly went to the health centre and one day, when the doctor weighed her, she was found to be underweight. She explained the risks of malnutrition and advised us to join World Vision’s nutrition programme.”

World Vision is slashing the number of malnourished Mongolian children through its Positive Deviance Hearth project for mothers to learn how to prepare healthy meals with locally available ingredients, as well as distributing sachets of nutrient-packed sprinkles to add to meals and partnering volunteers with family clinics.

Khulan, Khishge’s sister, holds sprinkle sachets - a nutritional supplement which helps children to get necessary vitamins and minerals for healthy growth.

In 2014, almost three-quarters of 163,000 under-fives in World Vision’s target areas in the country had their growth monitored at family clinics, 4,000 of whom were identified as undernourished and rehabilitated through the project.

Joining the programme, Urana learned easy ways to prevent malnutrition that meant Khishge reached a healthy weight just a few months later, while the mother also volunteered to pass on her newly discovered knowledge to her neighbours.

“We attended the training and started making meals at home,” explains Urana. “And we go to the health centre for monthly checks. Also, our children use the sprinkles, which help them get necessary nutrients.”

Learn more about the Positive Deviance Hearth programme

She continues, “World Vision has renovated the training room and given us all the materials. We learned about all kinds of meals, like nutritious bantan [a beef stew].

“When I made bantan before, I only used meat and flour, but now I’ve learned that by adding egg and carrots, you can make it with the nutrients babies need for growth. The food is not only nutritious, but delicious too.”

Helping her mother by shredding some carrots, Khishge’s older sister has clearly adapted to the new recipe, commenting, “To make bantan, you need carrots, flour, meat and eggs.”

Urana say, “I got a pin for being the best volunteer mother after attending the training and teaching others what I learned. I teach nutrition not only to people in my village, but even to my relatives when they visit me from far away.”

And now Khishge is growing healthily, her next milestone, being able to walk, will surely come soon.