Over the weekend I was down in Kibogora again (this time for work, although yes, I missed Bear not being there!). I snapped the above shot on Tuesday morning, during a child nutrition meeting for mothers. The mothers in the background are washing their hands and the hands of their children in preparation for eating the (nutritious, balanced!) meal they had prepared in the house behind them. Props for handwashing, and for mothers' nutrition meetings! Here these gatherings and habits can actually be life-saving practices.
Related to this, while I was in Kibogora I was also working on my final report for the research project results, and I read some exciting news while I was going through the hot-off-the-press, newest version of the Rwanda Demographic Health Survey (DHS). The Rwandan government puts out a new DHS every two to three years, and the survey examines the most pressing health needs in the country.
Here's the hopeful news: while in 2005, 1 in 7 children here in Rwanda were dying of preventable disease (malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, etc.), in early 2008 (the survey was conducted from January to April), only 1 in 10 children were dying of preventable disease. So the child mortality rate has now dropped from 14% to 10% for children under five years old; that's the lowest rate since 1992, pre-war days, and the rate appears to be dropping even more.
There are lots of factors contributing to this drop; country-wide health interventions such as the one pictured above are just one factor among many. And of course there is MUCH work still to be done (1 in 10 children is still an unacceptably high rate....). But here in the child survival community, we are delighted to see the numbers moving this way. Thanks for rejoicing with us!! I was reminded to thank God for the ways He has and is answering prayer on behalf of the most vulnerable children in this country.
1 comment:
Praise God! That's really exciting! I'm so glad you're there, my friend. God is using you.
Great photo by the way too!
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