Healthy mothers for healthy children with Philani and the National Lotteries Commission
The Philani Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition Trust promotes family health, focusing particularly on supporting pregnant mothers and preventing child malnutrition. After applying for a grant, Philani funded with R5-million to help upgrade existing infrastructure and invest in new infrastructure.
Established in 1979, the Trust has solid experience around issues of maternal health, child health and nutrition. Its mandate is to enhance sustainable community health and it has developed programmes to uphold this vision in the communities it serves. This is further enhanced by a commitment to preventing child malnutrition and rehabilitating underweight children.
The scourge of HIV/AIDS continues in South Africa, and the work done Philani incorporates programmes to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Mentor Mother programme is built around the concept of using capable women to help change the lives of families in their communities. Working with the Department of Health, the Philani Mentor Mother programme has teams in both the Western and Eastern Cape that focus on bringing primary healthcare interventions into the homes of families. Mentor mothers help mothers to rehabilitate their underweight children, give support to those who are pregnant and assist in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.
The impact is far-reaching More than
CAPTION. 192 396 households have been visited by the mentor mothers since 2014; 248 children are enrolled in the Educare classes; and 50 women benefit from skills development through the income generation programme.
The Educare programme consists of classes at the various nutrition centres that engage children in stimulating learn and play activities. As Philani embarked on its Income Generation Programme, the organisation realised that there was a need for a venue where the preschool children could play and learn in a safe space. Children in the programme are now cared for by mothers on a rotational basis.
These two programmes, along with many others initiated by the Philani Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition Trust address very real issues facing regular South African people.