When Jean Baptiste Seshavu and his wife, residents of Mushonyi Sector in Rutsiro District, gave birth to twins, it was great news to them, but they were soon going to face challenges that they had not expected. Their joy would however be short-lived. Just a few months after the birth of their bundle of joy, a boy and a girl, their mother suffered from an infection in one of her breasts, a factor that meant she had to feed them using one breast. At 10 months of age, the parents were told by the medics that one of the children, the boy, was suffering from malnutrition, and thus, he had to undergo some special care. After this diagnosis, they were advised to step up alternative ways of feeding them, to make sure that the children can have a balanced diet and grow well. Seshavu and his wife had first to learn more about how to prepare a balanced meal, and thankfully, Community Health Workers (CHWs) were at hand to give them some information about how it is done. Nutritious food and Shisha Kibondo porridge have played a crucial role in fighting malnutrition in Rutsiro District. After learning, the couple started looking for ways to implement what they had learnt, for example, establishing a vegetable garden at home for a good supply of vitamin-rich vegetables, and rearing chicken for some eggs. Working together, they made sure the children are well fed so that they would not relapse into malnutrition, and this effort was successful, owing mostly to the way that the couple partnered to handle the problem. “My wife and I work together. For example, when she is feeding the boy, I feed the girl. Such a partnership was important in our journey to defeat malnutrition in our family,” Seshavu says. Such efforts are needed in families especially in districts like Rutsiro which is one of those that are most affected by stunting and malnutrition. A Demographic Health Survey (DHS) carried out by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda in 2020 showed that 44.4 percent of the children under 5 in the district were stunted, something that calls for serious intervention. Leaders in the district emphasise the importance of peaceful and cooperative families as one of the ways to overcome the issues of malnutrition and stunting, and so far, some citizens seem to have grasped the message. Jean Baptiste Seshavu and his wife hold their twins as they speak to journalists in Mushonyi Sector in Rutsiro District. Vincent Hategekimana, also a resident of Mushonyi says he also plays a good role in fighting malnutrition in his family. Though he doesn’t often participate in cooking, he at least says the makes sure that the food items for making a good meal are available for his wife to prepare for the children. “I also come back home early and check if the children ate in time,” he says. Abdul Magid Ntawuruhunga, the officer in charge of fighting malnutrition in the district says the families have improved in how they partner to deal with feeding at home, among more issues that affect them. “For example, we always see fathers and mothers come together for the igikoni cy’umudugudu (a monthly exercise where parents gather to cook for their children and to learn more about upbringing),” he says. He notes that the high levels of stunting in the district were being caused by issues related to perceptions and knowledge, but things are improving and there is optimism for them to get even better. The district is employing a number of measures to deal with stunting, just like other districts. Among district the measures, there are thousands of Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) where children can be gathered and fed everyday as their parents are off to work. This is in addition to supplies given to needy families for example the nutritious shisha kibondo porridge flour given to families in the first and second categories of Ubudehe, for feeding their children under the age of 5. According to Jean Pierre Mwenedata, the Executive Secretary of Mushonyi Sector, the area he leads uses to have many cases of malnutrition, but in the last six months, no case has been recorded.
