\u201c<\/p>\n
A child doesn\u2019t become healthy simply because we treat them in the nutrition unit. They recover because the whole community becomes part of their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Rachael Apio, Nutritionist with Medical Teams International in Uganda<\/p>\n
The first cries of a newborn baby echo through the maternity ward as another day begins at a Medical Teams International-supported health center in Uganda. Outside, mothers carrying infants wrapped tightly against their backs quietly gather beneath the shade, waiting patiently to be seen. Some have walked for hours from deep within the refugee settlement. Others have traveled rough footpaths and long stretches of dusty roads from remote host communities, determined to keep appointments that could change whether their children survive or succumb to malnutrition.<\/p>\n
Figure 1: Mothers wait to be seen at Nyumanzi Health Centre III <\/p>\n
Inside the nutrition unit, Medical Teams staff work tirelessly to help children recover from malnutrition \u2014 where every minute counts. Children are weighed, measured, screened, and assessed. Mothers receive counseling while nutritionists carefully record each child\u2019s progress. Behind every consultation lies a much bigger story, one that begins long before a child reaches the health center and continues long after they leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cTreating a child in the nutrition unit is only one step,\u201d says Rachael. \u201cWhat truly brings a child back to health is when the whole community joins in supporting their recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Rachael, recovery is not defined by a child simply gaining weight. Recovery begins in villages where community volunteers search for the earliest signs of malnutrition. It continues in households where mothers learn how to nourish their children, and it grows in kitchen gardens where families cultivate nutritious foods that sustain recovery long after treatment ends.<\/p>\n
Figure 2: Rachael Apio conducts a routine check of the nutrition stock in a storage facility <\/p>\n
Rachael joined Medical Teams International as a nutritionist after gaining clinical experience at Lira Regional Referral Hospital in northern Uganda. Since then, she has become a driving force behind nutrition programs serving refugee and host communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the greatest lessons I have learned have come from working directly with communities,\u201d Rachael says. \u201cI enjoy community nutrition clinics because they allow us to meet families where they are, identify children showing the early signs of malnutrition, and support mothers before their children\u2019s condition becomes severe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supported through the Comprehensive Health and Nutrition Life-Saving Project, funded by the Uganda Humanitarian Fund, Medical Teams has embraced a model of care that places communities, and not just health facilities, at the front and center of saving children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking closely with different partners has helped me grow professionally,\u201d Rachael explains. \u201cEach partner brings unique experience, and together we are happy to share insights amongst ourselves and be able to provide better services for the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Figure 3: Illustrations of procedures on measuring and evaluating Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) Recovery Begins at Home <\/p>\n
For many families, the first health worker they meet is not a doctor or nurse.<\/p>\n
It is a Village Health Team member \u2014 a community volunteer \u2014 making the long walk from home to home under the hot sun.<\/p>\n
Figure 4: A Village Health Team member takes MUAC measurements of a child at the facility <\/p>\n
Equipped with a color-coded measuring tape to quickly screen children for malnutrition, health education materials, and trusted relationships within their communities, these volunteers identify children at the earliest signs of malnutrition \u2014 before it becomes life-threatening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaiting for families to arrive at the health center is often too late,\u201d Rachael explains. \u201cOur Village Health Teams know the communities. They know the children. They identify them early, educate caregivers, and ensure they are referred for treatment before complications develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The work is relentless. Every week, Village Health Teams travel across refugee settlements and host communities, visiting homes, monitoring pregnant women, checking infants, counseling breastfeeding mothers, and linking vulnerable families to care.<\/p>\n
Many of the children admitted to the nutrition unit are alive today because a Village Health Team member found them before severe malnutrition could take hold.<\/p>\n
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children <\/p>\n
For Rachael, treating a child without supporting the child\u2019s mother is treating only half the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealthy children begin with healthy mothers,\u201d she says. \u201cIf a mother is not eating well, if she is struggling to breastfeed, or if she lacks the knowledge to prepare nutritious complementary foods, the child remains at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every mother who enters the nutrition unit receives more than medicine. She receives practical guidance tailored specifically to her family\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
Health workers assess breastfeeding practices, ensuring infants receive breastfeeding exclusively from birth to six months before introducing safe and nutritious complementary foods.<\/p>\n
Caregivers learn about balanced diets, food preparation, hygiene, sanitation, and infection prevention \u2013 all critical factors that can determine whether a child recovers fully or relapses.<\/p>\n
Figure 5: Dr. Rachael Apio shows a lactating mother how to breast feed <\/p>\n
Children are grouped according to their age, nutritional status, and weight before receiving individualized treatment plans. Month after month, health workers monitor each child\u2019s progress, celebrating every kilogram gained and every milestone reached.<\/p>\n
\u201cNutrition is not a one-day intervention,\u201d Rachael says. \u201cRecovery takes patience, follow-up, encouragement, and continuous learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing More Than Food <\/p>\n
Just outside the nutrition unit sits the Community Kitchen Garden; an innovation Rachael first introduced.<\/p>\n
With its rows of spinach, collard greens, tomatoes, pumpkins, and other fast-growing vegetables, the garden is quietly and steadily transforming nutrition support from short-term treatment into long-term resilience.<\/p>\n
Figure 6: Mothers tend to the vegetables in the Community Kitchen Garden <\/p>\n
Here, mothers work alongside nutritionists, preparing seedbeds, planting vegetables, watering crops, and harvesting nutrient-rich foods that supplement meals for recovering children while learning techniques they can replicate at home.<\/p>\n
We encourage families to grow fast-growing fruits and vegetables so they can quickly have food to eat at home. Through our Community Kitchen Gardens, we want to reduce vitamin deficiencies in children by making sure they always have access to fresh, healthy foods that help them grow well and recover from malnutrition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Figure 7: Dr. Rachael Apio works alongside mothers tending to the Community Kitchen Garden in Nyumanzi Health Centre III <\/p>\n
\u201cMedicine helps children recover,\u201d Rachael reflects as she walks through the garden. \u201cBut knowledge helps them stay healthy. When mothers leave this place knowing how to grow nutritious food, they leave with something that lasts far beyond treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The garden has become both a nutrition classroom and a symbol of hope, proving that nutrition is not only about food assistance but also about empowering families to produce healthy meals using locally available resources within their reach.<\/p>\n
The Community Kitchen Gardens currently support 10 pregnant and breastfeeding women in each Community Care Group \u2014 a network of trained volunteer women who share health and nutrition information with neighboring families \u2014 serving the communities around each health facility and those reached through outreach activities.<\/p>\n
Families Become First Responders <\/p>\n
One of the program\u2019s most innovative approaches empowers caregivers to become active participants in protecting their family members\u2019 health.<\/p>\n
Caregivers are trained to routinely screen their children for early signs of malnutrition at least once a month. Rather than waiting until a child becomes severely ill, parents learn to recognize when to seek help early through their Community Care Group or Village Health Team, ensuring children receive treatment before their condition becomes life-threatening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I value most is serving people where they live,\u201d Rachael reflects. \u201cOver time, the relationship grows beyond healthcare. The families know you, they trust you, and they welcome you back. Even when I visit other facilities, many remember us. That connection reminds me that our work is not only about treating illnesses; it is about restoring hope and walking with communities on their journey to better health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Combined with regular nutrition camps, community education sessions, and health education at food distribution points, this approach is transforming families and communities from passive recipients of healthcare into active partners in preventing malnutrition and restoring health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen families know what to look for, they become the first responders in protecting their own children,\u201d Rachael says.<\/p>\n
Building Healthier Futures Together <\/p>\n
Through the Comprehensive Health and Nutrition Life-Saving Project, supported by the Uganda Humanitarian Fund, Medical Teams is strengthening healthcare beyond clinic walls by equipping communities to prevent, identify, and treat malnutrition before it becomes life-threatening.<\/p>\n
Behind every healthy child is a chain of people who refused to let that child fall through the cracks \u2014 a Village Health Team member who walked from house to house, a Medical Teams nutritionist who monitored growth month after month, a mother who embraced new feeding practices, and a doctor who believed prevention begins long before illness.<\/p>\n
Every home visit, community screening, nutrition camp, counseling session, and seed planted in the Community Kitchen Garden reflects Medical Teams\u2019 commitment to building healthier families and stronger communities. Together, these efforts help children recover from malnutrition and give families the knowledge and tools to keep them healthy.<\/p>\n
This approach leads to healthier communities, healthier families, healthier children \u2014 children who recover from malnutrition because, in Rachael\u2019s words, \u201can entire community chooses not to give up on them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201c A child doesn\u2019t become healthy simply because we treat them in the nutrition unit. They recover because…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-525557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}