Sixty Mothers Undergo Wean-mix Training

Gumani Child Care and Family Helper Program (GCCFHP) of Markaz Al Bishara in conjunction with its main funding partner, Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), has organized a day’s wean-mix training for 60 mothers from six communities in the Tamale Metropolitan Area. The training was prompted in part by the realization by GCCFHP that some mothers in their program area were preparing wean-mix flour under unhygienic conditions and were akin to preparing only one type of wean-mix flour. It was also realized that some mothers were not using the right proportions of foodstuff to prepare their wean-mix flour.Thus at the training, the mothers were schooled on how to prepare three different types of wean-mix flour from a combination of maize, soya bean, millet, beans, groundnut and herrings in the right proportions and under hygienic conditions. Speaking further on the purpose of the training, a nurse from the District Health Management Team of the Tamale Metropolitan Health Directorate, Madam Faustina Vimaraba, said that the training was to teach the mothers how to use cheap and locally available foodstuff to prepare wean-mix flour and to teach them how to combine these foodstuff in a proportionate manner to obtain the best wean-mix flour. She said the training also taught the mothers the importance of wean-mix to the growth of their children as well as the need to combine cereals and legumes to make the wean-mix flour. Speaking on the essence of the training, the Country Director of CCFC, Sanatu Nantogma, said that CCFC focuses more on children and to achieve the target, CCFC gives more direct benefits to children who are the top priority. The Country Director stated that CCFC consistently advocates for the rights of children through providing their needs, protecting them against abuse of any form and encouraging them participate in decisions and actions that affect them. Madam Sanatu Nantogma added that “It is for this reason that this wean-mix training is very crucial to us because we cannot attain our objectives if the children in the communities where we operate are malnourished and unhealthy. The end result that we expect from this training is for the children in our communities to be well nourished and healthy”.After the training the mothers were taught how to prepare porridge and Apapransa (local meal) from the flour. A beneficiary of the training, Maame Zakaria of Gumani community revealed that the training was good because it would not only improve the health of her two and a half year old son Abdul Rauf, but would keep her entire family healthy and strong. She said she learnt new methods of making wean-mix flour and what measurements to use when making her flour. The mother added that “I am a petty trader and now I can make wean mix porridge to sell for an additional income”. In another development, CCFC through its partner, Markaz Al Bishara in Gumani Child Care and Family Helper Program (GCCFHP), has made a donation worth over a thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢1,000) to the Mabihigu Association in Tamale. Mabihigu Association, with a membership of 170, is an association of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWH) based at Sherkinah clinic in Tamale. The donation comprised the payment of Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢500) to the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital to cover drugs for 100 of their members in Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) for one month and 20 bags of rice worth about five hundred Ghana cedis (GHC 500) for distribution to members of their group. Receiving the donation, the President of the Association, Kofi Tetteh, expressed his profound appreciation to CCFC and GCCFHP for the kind gesture extended to the group and assured that the donation would be used in the best way possible to the benefit of their members.