Organic Home Garden Helps Registered Child Get Healthy

Malnutrition still remains a big issue in Laos, with 37% of children under the age of 5 being classified as underweight, and 40% as malnourished or stunted, according to the WHO Country Cooperation Strategy for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2012-2015.

The situation is more serious in rural and mountainous areas. Malnutrition makes it easier for children to contract diseases and more difficult to learn. In most cases, the cause of malnutrition is the same – families simply don’t have enough food to eat.

But there are solutions.

In many areas of Laos, families grow home gardens. The vegetables and fruits grow in front of our houses and are high in nutritional value. However, often there is not enough to add to every meal and to boost nutrition everyday. As a result, children aren’t able to grow properly.

Khoaun, 10,  says, “Many times me and my younger brother do not have food before go to school and many times we only eat sticky rice with chili sauce. It’s too spicy on my tongue, but we have to eat because we did not have any other food.”

A few years ago, Khoaun’s family planted a small home garden but it was not enough food for the family.

His parent’s main job is working in the rice fields. They also earn income by selling chickens and ducks, and from a few odd jobs his father is able to scrape together.

“Many times I had to be absent from school to help my parents look for some food in the forest like bamboo shoots and wild vegetables,” says Khoaun.

Khoaun’s mother Noy, 38, says, “I was worried for my children’s education. I was afraid that they would not complete their studies because they didn't have enough to eat. We could also not support them with school materials or uniforms.”

In 2013, World Vision's Phine Programme implemented a food security project to help communities and children find a way to overcome hunger.

Families were taught how to grow a more productive home garden to ensure their children have adequate nutrients.

Khoaun’s family was one of the families who benefited from this project. His parents were provided with new home garden equipment and seeds. World Vision staff and district government agriculture counterparts came to introduce and demonstrate how to prepare the soil, how to grow the crops seed, and how to take care of the crops.

In addition, Khoaun’s family also received 250 small fish from World Vision to raise in their small pond. The home garden and fish ensure Khoaun’s family have enough food and reduce their malnutrition.

“I am happy that our family took part in this project. We had the opportunity to learn many things. We learned how to grow food during the two seasons, dry and rainy. In addition, we are  able to sell some of the extra vegetables to earn income for our family,” says Noy.

“Our family earned more than 1,450,000 kip (about 180 US dollars] per round of crops. This income was used to support our children to go to school and buy school materials, uniforms and to buy fuel for the motorbike for them to go to school because the school is far from the village,” she adds.

Khoaun’s mother shared, “We have an organic home garden. We do not have to worry about chemicals or how they will affect with our health.”

“My dream and my hope is that I want all my children to complete their education and get a good job in the future,” Noy says.