Restoring Hope: Building Stronger Starts for Children Through the Back to School, Back to Hope Programme
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
From 20 to 22 May, we welcomed ten caregivers to a three-day capacity-building training under our Back to School, Back to Hope Programme, equipping them with the knowledge and practical skills needed to give children a healthier, safer and more hopeful start in life.
Led by experts from the Ministry of Health, the Children's Department, and the Environment and Conservation Office, the training gave caregivers practical skills to improve children's health, nutrition, protection, and overall well-being. Sessions covered child nutrition, hygiene, immunisation, counselling, child protection, developmental milestones, disease prevention, environmental conservation and household food production.
The training also created an opportunity to identify children and families who needed immediate support. Health assessments identified a five-month-old infant who had never received any immunisations. Immediate action was taken to connect the child to lifesaving health services, while Community Health Promoters were tasked with following up to ensure continued care. The team also discovered that several children lacked birth notifications, an essential requirement for accessing social health coverage. This highlighted the challenges faced by families whose children were born at home and reinforced the need for stronger links to essential government services.
To help families put their new knowledge into practice, each household received a family support package containing a mattress, maize, beans, millet, soya flour, soap, baby jelly and other essential supplies recommended by the nutrition team. As part of the programme's Nana Handshake, caregivers committed to attending child welfare clinics, improving infant nutrition, ensuring children receive milk and establishing nutritious kitchen gardens using locally available vegetables.
One of the most powerful moments came from a mother who shared her experience."
"I had no hope. I didn't know that my child would go back to school. I'm so happy."
The training reinforced the importance of equipping caregivers with practical knowledge to recognise danger signs early, seek medical care and support healthy child development. To ensure the learning translates into lasting impact, Community Health Promoters will continue monitoring the families, following up on immunisation schedules, child welfare clinic attendance and overall child wellbeing.
A review meeting scheduled for the end of July will assess progress, reinforce key lessons and provide continued support to the caregivers as they put their learning into practice.
Every informed caregiver strengthens a family. Every healthy child strengthens a community. Through the Back to School, Back to Hope Programme, we remain committed to working alongside families and communities to ensure every child has the care, protection and opportunities they deserve.
