PD Hearth improves nutrition in Jumla

Mothers and children taking part in Positive Deviance Hearth (PD Hearth) session in Patmara Village Development Committee of Jumla in Nepal.

The PD Hearth session is organised for mothers of malnourished children where they learn the importance and process to prepare super flour (nutritious food made from local grains), poshilo jaulo (rice and pulse mixed with vegetables or even meat) and the importance of turmeric, salt and locally available vegetables.

The mothers are also oriented about the importance of breastfeeding, vaccines, good hygiene and sanitation.

Janmaya Rokaya, volunteer at the PD Hearth states, “Most mothers are very innocent and ignorant and don’t have much time for children as they have to work in the fields. They don’t have time to feed their children, so much so that they ask the other lactating mothers to breastfeed their children in turn when they work at the fields. Little things like soap, use of salt are something they are not aware of.”

After attending the PD Hearth session mothers share that children are becoming healthier and get less sick. Jumla Area Development Programme carried out 35 sessions on PD Hearth in five VDCs for 809 children in 2010.