Bread for the World's 2019 Offering of Letters to Congress: Better Nutrition, Better Tomorrow - Flipbook - Page 2
Anne Thurow
A BRIGHTER TOMORROW FOR OUR CHILDREN
Esther Okwir was nearly five months pregnant with her
5 is among the worst in the world: 90 per 1,000 live births.
first child when she walked a mile to her local clinic for a
Of the children who survive, 40 percent are stunted physically
nutrition lesson. After a morning’s work in her family’s fields, and cognitively with irreversible life consequences due to
Esther joined three dozen other moms-to-be and new mothers malnutrition. Esther and her husband Tonny had grown up
gathered around midwife Susan Ejang, who made a most
during the madness of warlord Joseph Kony. During years of
astonishing proclamation:
terror, families abandoned their farms and scrambled to find
“Your child can achieve great things.”
safety.
Greatness? An excited murmur raced through the assembly.
With peace recently restored, Susan told the moms they
It was an audacious notion in northern Uganda, where a
could make a difference in the healthy development of their
child’s mere survival was an achievement in a harsh climate
children. Good nutrition was the key, particularly in their
for both agriculture and peace.
first 1,000 days — the time from the
A half century of conflict and poverty
beginning of a mom’s pregnancy to the
had left a legacy of malnutrition and a
second birthday of her child. Those first
As he grew, Rodgers
woeful healthcare system. Who could
1,000 days, she explained, are the most
was clearly beating the
dare dream of greatness for their child?
important time for the healthy physical
odds of a child in Uganda:
To Esther and the other moms, the
and mental development of the child—
his development was
midwife in her white lab coat seemed
and the development of our communities,
like a modern-day incarnation of the
nations, and world.
outpacing the growth
angel Gabriel, who two millennia
“You take good care in these days
charts, and he was neither
earlier had appeared to one young
and your child won’t be malnourished,”
malnourished nor stunted.
woman with the message that she
Susan told the moms. “The next president
would give birth to the Son of God.
of the country may come from this group!”
Susan’s message wasn’t quite that
Esther believed she was fortunate to
momentous, but it was certainly a bolt from the blue. And it
give birth at a time when her country made improving child
required a leap of faith.
nutrition and reducing stunting a priority. The importance
In northern Uganda, the death rate of children under age
of the first 1,000 days is enshrined in Uganda’s long-range
nutrition plan; if Uganda is to achieve its ambition of
becoming a middle-income country, all its children need
to reach their full potential.
Doing her part, Esther eagerly embraced a new initiative
known as Harvest Plus, a U.S. government-funded program
integrating agriculture and nutrition. Harvest Plus raises the
nutrient levels already in staple crops, ensuring that more
vitamins and minerals enter the diets of poor farmers.
Esther and her husband, both smallholder farmers, planted
the new Harvest Plus crops: orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
rich in Vitamin A and beans with more iron. Come harvest
time, Esther included the two vegetables in nearly every meal.
She had a healthy pregnancy and delivered a robust baby boy
named Rodgers.
Once he began eating solid foods, the sweet potatoes and
beans became Rodgers’s favorites. As he grew, Rodgers was
clearly beating the odds of a child in Uganda: his development
was outpacing the growth charts, and he was neither malnourished nor stunted. After turning three, Rodgers joined
the nearby nursery school. He loves singing songs and chanting
the alphabet; his teachers say he is an eager learner.
Esther dreams of great things, recalling the midwife’s
words. Her son, the president? “That,” she said, “would really
be something.”
In Uganda, Esther Okwir’s son Rodgers is growing up
healthy due, in part, to a U.S. government-funded program
that links agriculture and nutrition.
This story was written by Roger Thurow, an author and a
senior fellow for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, who
adapted it from his book,“The First 1,000 Days: A Crucial
Time for Mothers and Children—And the World.”