Hearth Session's start in Nias

In the Hearth approach, community volunteers and caregivers of malnourished children practice new cooking, feeding, hygiene and caring behaviors shown to be successful for rehabilitating malnourished children. Volunteers actively involve the mother and child in rehabilitation and learning in a comfortable home situation and work to enable the families to sustain the child’s enhanced nutritional status at home. The Hearth session consists of nutritional rehabilitation and education over a twelve-day period followed by home visits to the caregivers by volunteers. After two weeks of being fed additional high-calorie foods, children become more energetic and their appetites increase. Visible changes in the child, coupled with the “learning by doing” method, results in improved caregiver confidence and skills in feeding, child care, hygiene and health-seeking practices.