Improving children's health in villages in Darfur

Good progress has been made in launching the programme of activities in the five new villages adopted in 2011-12 - Um Layouna, Amar Jaded, Hilat Kabir, Elfaki Ali and Siwailinga. All the villages have formed their Village Development Committees and Animal Loans Committees who will be responsible for managing the project activities. These committees are the key to the sustainability of the development in the villages and hence Kids for Kids places great emphasis on training these committees in management, decision making, record keeping, accountancy, committee procedures and monitoring and evaluation techniques. In addition the members of the Animal Loans Committee are trained in the loaning procedures. With the completion of this essential capacity building phase we are now able to move on to the development activities. These are launched in a sequential manner focusing initially on enhancing livelihoods with the initial emphasis on the provision of goat and donkey loans. In preparation for the distribution of the livestock 2 volunteers from each village have been trained as paravets and a revolving veterinary drugs fund has been established in each village - this ensures that the beneficiaries of the livestock loans have access to basic veterinary care in the village. In addition all the beneficiary families have received thorough training in animal husbandry to ensure that they are able to look after their animals properly. The animals are now being sourced for the families who can look forward to being able to provide better nutrition for their children through having ready access to the goats' milk. This will contribute to improving the health of the children.

Other activities to improve the children's health are in hand. The volunteers from the villages to be trained as first aid workers have been selected by the communities and the arrangements are being made with the Sudanese Red Crescent to provide the necessary training. In addition, a new training course for the volunteers who have been selected to be trained as village midwives is expected to commence in November. Project staff are also in the process of procuring blankets and mosquito nets to be distributed to the beneficiary families. The mosquito nets will help to significantly reduce the incidence of malaria which is a killer disease for children whilst the blankets help to reduce respiratory infections amongst children through providing warmth without the need to keep the fire alight at night which has meant children are sleeping in a smoky atmosphere which is very damaging to their health.    

Last week has seen celebrations for the 10th anniversary of Kids for Kids. A key part of the celebrations was a workshop attended by representatives from the 59 Kids for Kids' villages. This has provided an opportunity for the communities to provide valuable feedback on the usefulness of the project activities and to provide guidance on the way ahead.

 We are most grateful to all our loyal supporters who make all this possible and make such a difference to the lives of these families and communities.