Report - Bernard van Leer Foundation

1.2 Environmental hardships combined with poor access to water & limited food supply are resulting in youngchildren’s poor health & nutrition, thus hindering their growth, development and ability to learn.CHALLENGESOPPORTUNITIESa. Lack of accessible, clean water supplies• women are walking up to 20 km to get water• the harsh dusty environment has lead to Mondulihaving the second highest incidence of Trachomain Tanzania, even among children (WHO, SAFE,2005)Plans that are underway for improved water access inMonduli District should include provision at communitypre-schools, schools and clinics.b. Limited supply & poor quality of foodWomen identified that with the water scarcity,° cows’ milk production is very low, & poor quality,therefore children’s diet is poor° children and families are not able to eat on aregular basis;° if they have access to food sources such as maize &beans, they prepare Ugali (made with milk fat),milk chai, maize boiled with salt, for children BUTthey know that this is not enough for growingchildrenDistrict Agriculture official highlighted thato There is a critical link between nutrition, mental andphysical health.o The women & children are the most affected bynutrition limitationso Plans are underway for a cross-sectoral approachesto addressing food insecurity in the district. (TPRA& SNV, 2003)A Traditional Elder explains traditional informal education:‘When a child starts to play a game withstones as cows, for example, mzee starts touse this opportunity to start teaching himhow to take care of the cows. He sees theboy take big stones and small ones, and sothey talk about cows (big stones) and theircalves (smallstones). Mzeeteaches themmany things,like how tokeep the cows,and where toput the boma, and the children practice these ideas as theyplay in the soil with stones and sticks. He teaches themeverything, even how to take care of the livestock, andthings like that it is very important for the calf to have thefirst milk from its mother. This is working because if you ask children to sing songstaught to them by bibi they can’.Traditional Elder26