Nutritional PD Hearth Program helps improve my grandchild health

Hear our caregiver Mrs. Ry Hon talked about how she got to join with our project CHOICES for Children and helped improve her grandchildren nutrition status:

Stop smoking for healthy family!

Mr. Moeun Pich, aged 56 years old has stopped smoking after he joined in our project group discussion and learned about the harmful affect of tobacco. He now has quit smoking successfully and is healthy and happy within his family. His livelihood is also getting better as instead of spending time smoking, he spend time working!

Mr. Moeun Pich and his family

Most Significant Change Stories - Increased livelihood income skills and opportunities for poor and vulnerable households.

Miss. Sok Sinet in her private sewing shop 

Miss. Sok Sinet is 20 years old living in a poor family in Beungbot Kandol commune. There are 9 siblings in family and she is the 6^th daughter. Father works as a partner of ADRA and mother is a house wife. 

After Sinet failed in high school (class 12^th) final year examination in year 2016 then she became a RC member. The RC group chose her to be an interest group member. She attended sewing training for 6 months in Kvav village, Rumlech commune which was supported by ADRA`s CHOICES for Children project.

After the sewing training graduation Sineth received a set of sewing materials and she started sewing business at home with high confident that she would be success with this business job.  Sinet is delight very much with this first job in her life because she can make good income by herself, and the income could help to feed the family.

Different style of suits designed by miss. Sok Sinet

Amongst the 16 trainees, Sinet is a cleaver one and a model learner. She is quicker understood with more skills than the other learners. Sometime she acted as the assistant trainer and demonstrated classmates in learning and practices. More important she was selected to be a trainer during she joined in the sewing refresher that conducted by PAPSDA- ADRA New Zealand in Tuol Thmea village.

Miss, Sok Sinet measured size of a sewing client 

Now, 7 months after complete training Sinet has 5 to 10 clients and get income 30 to 50 dollars per month. She could design other styles of shirt, trousers, traditional clothes or suits, suits etc. other than what she learned from the training course. She has plan to expand this job by constructing a building apart from the house and even looking for other ones to get learning from her knowledge and skills.

"I'm thankful to ADRA team and ADRA's supporters for the trainings I have received as well for the development activities that have been happening in my community so far." Sinet happily said to us.

Children's Open House Celebration!

Children are the human resource of country development. When we talking about children, we talk about 4 types of children's rights: The right of community participation, the right of living, the right of getting education and the right of security insurance from the people around them. In Cambodia, children will have to get education at the age of 5 years old. Meanwhile, parents as well as other caregivers shall bring their own kids or children to school for registration. School registration is free for all children who ask for registration if their age is 5 years old or older. ADRA is an organization which works to protect children and all vulnerable children who are in need of help. On October/26/2017 ADRA staff in Pursat province who work for CHOICES for children project had a Children's Open House celebration in a rural village in Bakan district, Pursat province with 17 children(11girls and6 boys) and 45 parents. The purpose of this celebration was to advocate with Reflect Circle members to put a great effort into considering about their children's future.

                               The pictures below show activities from this celebration.

Mrs, Um Buntha RC Children Coordinator giving a warm welcome to Reflect Circle members.

Practicing new Rice improvement program!

We are in the rainy season here in Cambodia, and it is a right time for community members to start to grow and transplant their rice! Supported by our CHOICES for Children project, we have introduced the Rice Improvement Program for better yield and savings...! These techniques have been introduced in our Reflect Circle Group meetings followed by some ongoing training for those who are interest called Interest Groups. Below is a summary of the 12 key SRI practices:

1. Apply natural fertilizer (especially compost). 

2. Transplant only healthy seedlings.

3. Wider spacing between hills.

4. When transplanting, softly uproot seedlings to avoid trauma, especially to the roots.

5. Transplant young seedlings, ideally less than 15 days old.

6. Transplant fewer seedlings per hill; preferably one seedling (maximum of three).

7. Shallow transplanting.

8. Transplant seedlings quickly and carefully.

9. Transplant seedlings in a square pattern.

10. Maintain lower level of water in the rice field.

11. Weed frequently to improve soil aeration (2-4 times).

12. Level the soil of both the seedbed and rice field.

Here are some pictures showing our project team working with the farmers practicing the new techniques:

Community Campaign as the last session of a Reflect Learning Unit (RLU) training of trainers!

At the end of Reflect Learning Unit #9 on Micro-nutrients, the final session is a putting it all together campaign that highlights what participants learned about micro-nutrients. These photos highlight the vegetables participants brought to demonstrate foods high in nutrients and the participation by Health Center and district government in the role plays and other participatory celebration events. Our team was very excited as they thought they would have to buy vegetables for the event, but the community members brought the vegetables themselves as they were so happy to show what they had learned during the sessions all week.

Most Significant Change Story Writing

Once a month our CHOICES for Children project makes time to find and write about the most significant changes in project households among our Reflect Circle members. The most important part of this change is documenting what our Reflect Circle members have learned and discussed in their Reflect Circle about habits and behavior change. Our Reflect Circle facilitators are the key persons who live and stay with their members everyday. The most significant story is chosen from among all the stories stories showing how Reflect Circle members have learned about gender, hygiene, sanitation, diet, etc, how they have chosen to adopt changed practices in their daily life, and how they have abandoned unhealthy lifestyles, leading them to healthy lifestyles.

This short video shows the Reflect Circles facilitators writing these most significant change stories.

RLU #6 Complementary feeding Training

Here are some photos from our Reflect Learning Units (RLU) # 6 ENA 5 Complimentary feeding training and coaching.



Writing about Most Significant Change

Once a month our CHOICES for Children project sets aside time to look for most significant change among the Reflect Circle members. We are looking for members who have changed their habits and behavior after becoming involved with Reflect Circle activities. The most important part of the changes are what they had learned and put it into practice. They write about what has brought them to the point where they abandon old unhealthful habits and what has helped them add new habits for a new lifestyle.



A Model Facilitator

When Monyroth leaders in Training of Trainers, she treats it as if it is a Reflect Circle meeting. She begins by taking the attendance. She gets everyone to sit in a circle and makes sure that no one is sitting either in front or behind anyone else. And she doesn’t speak too much, she only speaks when she is introducing and explaining a new topic, otherwise she facilitates so that the participants are driving the learning through discussion, questions and sharing experiences. She makes the effort to involve everyone in the discussion; if someone is talking too much she politely pauses them and asks someone else to comment. She also includes different activities to break up the training, like a song or a game, so that the participants stand up and do something rather than just sit and listen for the whole training.

Monyroth is able to create a relaxed and comfortable environment where everyone is able to participate. Thank you Monyroth for modeling how to be a really good facilitator!

Monyroth facilitating a Maternal and Child health topic

A game similar to ‘pass the hot potato’ where the trainees’ newly learned knowledge is tested.

PD/Hearth Pilot Program

During May through to August, our nutrition staff were busy preparing for and piloting the PD/Hearth program within one village in the target district. A meeting with the village's reflect circle groups occurred to inform the community about the PD/Hearth program, with a further meeting with the village leaders to conduct wealth ranking and a market survey to ensure ADRA was properly informed about the village's nutrition situation. CHOICES staff then conducted an orientation meeting with key persons who would be involved during the pilot process.

CHOICES Staff and Village Leaders conducting Wealth Ranking and Market Survey of the target village

Buntha, Yourm, and Saray conducting the PD/Hearth Orientation Meeting

Next all of the children in the village under 5 years of age were weighed and the children who were found to be either malnourished or severely malnourished were noted as the ones the pilot program would help to rehabilitate. The results showed 25% of the weighed children falling within these two categories.

Buntha recording the weight of children in the village under 5

Project staff then met with village leaders to create a village map locating all children who were weighed and 3 Positive Deviant (poor families with well-nourished children) families and 3 Negative Deviant (well-off families with malnourished children) families were selected to be interviewed. These interviews highlighted the feeding practices, types of food, and the food preparation methods that the Positive Deviant families were using and the Negative Deviant families were lacking.

Based on the information learned during these interviews, a menu, based on food available within the village, and 10 key messages for the education component, were developed for the PD/Hearth program. In order for a key message to be meaningful, it needed to be based around the village's current nutrition practices.

Sophorn leading the Presentation of Results and PD/Hearth Planning with parents/caregivers

Sophorn Lim, the Project Manager for Family Nutrition from the Phnom Penh ADRA office, was present during the pilot process to help our staff. We were also very fortunate to have Stephanie Calhourn, who had just completed a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at Andrews University in Michigan, volunteer her time to help evaluate the pilot program as well as take part in the program's activities.

Stephanie helping during a group feeding session

The PD/Hearth sessions involved an education component as well as a 30 day feeding component. During the first 30 day cycle of the pilot program 71% of the total child participants were rehabilitated, and after the second 30 day cycle all child participants were rehabilitated.

Staff still follow up with the families who participated in the program with child growth monitoring occurring every 2 months until the children are 5 years old.

Learning Through Play Training

CHOICES staff have been busy in the field this week (25-30 January 2015) conducting training of trainer sessions on Learning Through Play with Reflect Circle facilitators in Reflect Circles. The purpose of this training is to provide parents with young children (0-5 years) with the information they need to understand child development, while also encouraging them to play with their children in order to enhance their child's growth.
Who said work can't be fun?

A group of mothers draw different parts of the body.

An example of homemade toys - a fishing game.

Community facilitators and CHOICES staff during training.