Lives are changing – Start Strong results

We are so excited to share that we have now completed our Start Strong Project in Rugin and Bichhya, Bajura, Far West Nepal.

As a UK Aid Match-funded project, we could not have achieved the positive outcomes we are evidencing without your dedicated and generous support. On behalf of our trusted local partner PHASE Nepal, who work tirelessly to support isolated Himalayan communities – thank you. We hope you enjoy reading about our progress to date.  

The Start Strong Project aimed to increase access to maternal healthcare and reduce malnutrition for 1,000 women and their children. During the project period April 22 – March 25, all pregnant, lactating and mothers with children under 5 in the project area have been supported with maternal healthcare interventions with a focus on improving knowledge and behaviours in line with Nepali Government ‘Safe Motherhood’ policy and reducing child malnutrition.  2200 mothers and children have been directly supported!

We knew from our baseline survey in 2022 that not all pregnant women were accessing the minimum recommendation of at least 4 antenatal visits, with a correlation of women giving birth alone without professional support, and most children were presenting with at least 1 malnutrition status due to inadequate food security. Many children in Bajura are stunted, and high child mortality is partly driven by underlying vulnerabilities that malnutrition amplifies – weakened immune systems make children more prone to infection and diseases and unable to fight off illnesses such as measles or pneumonia or other respiratory illnesses that sadly often claim the lives of children under the age of five.  

We knew too, that to combat malnutrition most prevalent amongst the youngest children, that we needed to also address household dietary diversity, provide mothers with tailored agricultural knowledge and resources for their situation. We knew from previous projects that mothers need to have access to the grains and the greens to make Sarbottham Pitho ‘superflour’ for a nutritious weaning food porridge. Due to the monsoon season, Start Strong supported off-season crop growing and introduces agricultural techniques to boost yield and variety of food availability – vegetable seed and improved breed poultry, as well as oyster mushroom cultivation.  

PHASE supports the most vulnerable mothers, often single-head households, subsistence farmers with little income opportunity, to access knowledge, resources, and build skills through the dedicated work of PHASE Nepal staff. Auxiliary Nurse Midwives train Female Community Health Volunteers and Traditional Healers and encourage referral to the Health Posts which is reinforced by Street Dramas and public health messaging on important topics. Agricultural Technicians ensure more families can grow food all year round and Social Mobilizers are crucial, ensuring the communities are involved with the Start Strong Project from its inception and can feedback to PHASE what is working well and what they would like to do differently.  

Community Antenatal Care Groups for pregnant mothers and their caregivers, Golden 1,000 Days Orientation for mothers and Healthy Baby Competitions – all valuable contact points for monitoring the good health and well-being of mothers and babies and children, promoting crucial health and well-being messaging to caregivers and effective signposting for malnutrition and reproductive health needs and rights. The Start Strong Project is evidencing real change in important indicators that illustrate the progress made towards our ultimate outcome of ensuring that 1,000 families from remote communities in Bajura, Far West Nepal, have improved maternal healthcare and better nutrition by the end of the Start Strong Project.  

• Completion of 4 Antenatal Care Visits by mothers has increased from 77% to 85%
• 79% of births up from 57 % have been with a skilled health worker.
• Families can feed themselves for at least 6 months from their garden, increased from 46% to 61%
• Children identified as malnourished reduced from 17% to 2%
• Understanding of Golden 1000 days has doubled to almost 100%
• Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months has increased from 81% to 98%
• 84% of the 56 traditional healers trained now have adequate knowledge of Golden Thousand Days

We have endured many challenges since the start of the project – 5.5 Richter earthquakes, landslides, fires and flooding, leading to the destruction of Bichhya Health Post and the damage of Rugin Health Post, alongside affected communities displaced within their settlements because of the destruction of their homes and livelihoods. All credit to the resourcefulness and resilience of the PHASE Nepal team who have continued to work to successfully improve access to maternal health care and reduce malnutrition in Rugin and Bichhya – changing lives in Nepal.  

We are so grateful for the support of PHASE supporters and the UK government through their UK Aid Match scheme without which this Start Strong Project would not have been possible.

We are continuing to support the people of Bajura as we PHASE out of the communities handing over to the government over the next 3 years. To support this work please consider a donation today. Donate to PHASE Worldwide.