When 90 children were enrolled at an Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre close to G.S Munini in Munini sector of Nyaruguru District in July 2022, most of them were suffering from malnutrition and at least 10 of them were in critical condition.

However, today, all of them are in good health as they are no longer malnourished, thanks to the Government of Rwanda for allocating the Stunting Prevention and Reduction Project (SPRP) in Nyaruguru.

The project, implemented by Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) in collaboration with National Child Development Agency and local leaders, aims to contribute to the reduction in the stunting rate among children under five years of age (with a focus on under two) in the targeted districts.

"We focus on pillars that help improve the life and health of children in the ECD centres. These include water, hygiene and sanitation, health, nutrition, child protection and education (parents included). We receive children between three to six years old. The project has helped us a lot as no child is currently malnourished,” ECD caregiver,Virginie Mukanyanadwi told The New Times.

The children are given a balanced diet from Monday to Friday, Mukanyanadwi said, adding that they also screen the children to detect malnutrition issues and monitor if their health is improving.

"At 9:40 am, the children get nutritious porridge. At noon they get a balanced diet for lunch with milk. The ECD has also improved the children’s learning ability. Every Friday we gather their parents and show them how to prepare a balanced diet to fight malnutrition and stunting,” she said.

Mukanyanadwi said that the children’s hygiene has improved thanks to the ECD.

"When parents go to work, they leave children at the ECD centre which benefits both children and their families. The parents were also assembled in a savings group and meet every Friday, the day we educate them on how to fight malnutrition,” she said.

The savings help in collecting money for needs such as manure to fertilise kitchen gardens around the ECD centres.

"Each parent contributes Rwf200 to the group every Friday. Each can contribute up to five shares (Rwf1, 000). The vegetables from the kitchen gardens are cooked for the children at the ECD centres,” Mukanyanadwi said.

SeraphineNyiraneza who has a child at the centre in Munini, said that her child was suffering from Kwashiorkor, a severe form of malnutrition before being taken to the ECD centre.

"I am in the vulnerable category and my child now goes to the centre. Today, my child is no longer malnourished. The hygiene status and learning ability and cognitive skills have drastically improved. Before joining the ECD, our children were solitary at home. They now speak English and Kinyarwanda well. We thank the partners so much,” she said.

Nyiraneza said that leaving their children at ECDS has saved time for them to work and generate income that enables them to cater to the children’s basic needs.

"We also meet every Friday in the afternoon in a loan and savings group to save so as to be able to afford basic needs for our children. Some of us had no skills in preparing a balanced diet, but we now have the capability and use our limited resources,” she said.

Faustin Rurangirwa, the prefect of studies at G.S Munini that monitors the ECD, reiterated that children are safe at ECDs when parents are busy with their income-generating activities.

"The intellectual capacity of children is growing thanks to learning materials and nutritious food at ECDs. The ECDs serve the children even when schools are on holiday,” he noted.

He said that hygiene facilities at the ECD are also part of eradicating malnutrition as poor sanitation and hygiene conditions and lack of access to good quality water are underlying causes of undernutrition.

"The ECD is a model for parents to learn from good practices to improve the health of children. Such ECDs should be increased in many parts of the country,” Rurangirwa said.

ECDs supported

Vice Mayor in Charge of Economic Development in Nyaruguru District, Assoumpta Byukusenge, said that 1,121 ECDs benefitting 42, 894 children in total were supported to improve nutrition among the children.

She said that of 1,121 ECDs, at least 1,031 are home-based, benefitting 35,241 children.

"Every village has three home-based ECDs. There are also 11 community-based ECDs with 433 children. There are also 210 ECDs with 3,150 that are affordable to the most vulnerable parents. We also have one model ECD. The parents have organised themselves in groups so that they play a big role in affording basic needs to reduce malnutrition,” Byukusenge said, adding that stunting and malnutrition have drastically decreased since 2018

"Since the ECDs started in Nyaruguru District, children’s nutrition improved and parents got more time to work. Stunting was at 41.7 per cent in 2015. The latest 2020 survey shows that stunting has decreased to 39.1 per cent. As of 2022, our assessment shows that it reduced to 34 per cent. We hope that by 2024, stunting and malnutrition will have drastically decreased” she said.