NEPAL. ADEQUATE FOOD FOR CHILDREN OF DUPCHESHWORI SCHOOL

bambininepal_nutrizione_cibo

In the rural municipality of Naukunda in the Rasuwa district, place of realization of the project, only basic health facilities with very limited health personnel are available. Only 28.9% of pregnant women receive folic acid, while only 42.7% of breastfeeding mothers are monitored in the growth process of their babies.

Due to the lack of health facilities, the lack of food education, poverty and the geographical isolation of the villages, schoolchildren are deprived of adequate nutritious food since childhood, which prevents them from physical and mental development. The nutritional problems of children increase during school age as schools are without canteens and children do not receive an adequate meal at school and at home. Poverty and food insecurity are rampant in the rural municipality of Naukunda due to high food prices and a series of natural disasters that have destroyed farmers’ crops. Vulnerable families are forced to skip meals or sell valuable goods to buy food. Although Nepal is an agricultural nation, the nation is represented by poor farmers. They do not have sufficient funding or resources to adapt to climate change.

Raising a child in a poor rural village in Nepal brings many challenges. Every day the children walk for an hour crossing water courses to go to school. For children who make the long journey from small villages, schools are not only buildings, but also places that can help fulfill their hopes and dreams. For children who benefit of regular meals at school, attending school means also getting the nourishment they need. For parents there are two fewer challenges to worry about. The communities of Naukunda are not aware of basic practices related to personal hygiene, the use and cleaning of toilets, the techniques of handling the water and food hygiene management.

About 70% of rural communities were suffering from diarrhea for which they asked for advice or treatment from a health facility or a traditional doctor. In the areas where the Project develops, children are visibly dirty, with worn clothes and often barefoot. Their homes are not properly cleaned and the water is not properly stored and manipulated. Most people are not used to washing their hands before eating and after using the bathroom.

Outside the toilets, at school and at home, there are often no facilities for washing hands with soap and clean water. The project therefore aims to improve the nutritional conditions of the 250 children of the Dupcheswori school in the Rasuwa district through the construction and equipment of a canteen to ensure at least one meal during school hours and reduce the risk of malnutrition.

A nutritional educational course and training on correct basic sanitary hygiene practices will be carried out in the school in the presence of children and their mothers. The implementation of a school garden will have the dual value of educating children to agricultural work, of providing nutritious food as well as supporting the canteen supply over time. A campaign to raise awareness of correct nutrition and the importance of education and school attendance will be helpful in limiting the damage resulting from the conditions of poverty, hunger and malnutrition in the Rasuwa area.

The main activities of the project:

  • Construction and furnishing of the canteen
  • Canteen maintenance and sustainability training
  • Implementation of a school garden
  • Creation of a school garden management committee
  • Nutrition training for parents and students
  • Creation of a monitoring committee for correct nutrition and hygiene
  • School regularity awareness campaign (workshops, SMS and radio)
  • In Italy, in the city of Bolzano, a showcooking will be organized with the presence of 2 chefs who will cook Nepalese dishes and tell the recipes and traditions of Nepal.

Direct beneficiaries in Nepal: 871 beneficiaries; direct to Italy: 50 beneficiaries; indirect in Nepal: 2,484 households; indirect in Italy: 200 households.

Project financed by

Bolzano