Mothers also reported wanting to improve their children’s diets but did not have the economic means or the knowledge to do so. Our I-CATCH grant will continue to provide cooking classes, nutrition and child health education, and growth surveillance over the next 3 years, working toward a longer term positive impact on child growth and development. Except for possible routine iron supplementation, now recommended by the World Health Organization, we will encourage a diet of traditional foods which, if varied, will provide a balanced diet. By teaching the neighborhood health workers to accurately measure weight and height and to plot these on a growth chart, they will be qualified to evaluate progress on improving nutrition in these participating families with twice-yearly evaluations. We are excited to return to Nsongwe next year to continue teaching new skills to our NHW partners and mothers, and to help monitor progress on nutrition and growth.
Although we have learned much from our 8 years of experience in Zambia, we appreciate the valuable consultation of SOICH members, especially the mentoring of Dr. Duke Duncan and Dr. Bron Anders as part of our I-CATCH grant. I’ve also had the opportunity to consult with professors at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and to audit anthropology courses, as well review the medical and social/anthropological literature to enhance my work in international pediatrics.
The Canadian-based SAM Project has taught us to embrace projects that have a lasting impact, encouraging independence rather than making unsustainable donations that trap communities into dependence on foreign aid.
This triple partnership with Rotary International, the SAM Project, and our I-CATCH grant has allowed us to engage with the community – along with several hundred mothers and their children – and has demonstrated how this collaboration can bring sustainable, positive changes to both the health and economic well-being of families in rural Zambia.
There have been challenges working in a developing country with inadequate infrastructure – poor roads, inferior communication systems, and limited access to equipment and supplies. The quality of the health professionals is quite variable, and the Ministry of Health is not always helpful, as we discovered when Zambian officials confiscated our passports and then fined us $200 fine for not having the proper credentials.
Nevertheless, the rewards far surpassed the challenges as evidenced by the eagerness to learn of our neighborhood health workers Malvina Simulwi and Patson Sibibi, and the interest in improving the health of their children that these mothers have shown.
This endeavor has given me a meaningful life after retirement from full-time pediatrics practice.
Dr. Charles Erickson has retired from his pediatrics practice in Lincoln, Neb., and is a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He volunteers at the Peoples Health Center in Lincoln. He said had no relevant financial disclosures.
Information about the Yale/Stanford Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholars Program or the I-CATCH grants and applications is available on the internet.