In the village of Ban Nayavai, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Teng, now 20, left school two years ago and, as an unmarried and unemployed young woman, stayed at home to help her family.
However, recently her life changed course dramatically when she was offered the opportunity to do something completely different. She eagerly explains: "Education staff came from the provincial capital and asked for volunteers who would be interested in giving parenting training in their own village," she says. "I wanted to learn a skill and get some experience, so I volunteered immediately. The staff explained what I would have to do, and then asked me if I would be able to do the job. Without hesitation I said ‘yes’."
Teng and two others from her village, Paitoon and Somsi, joined other village volunteers in the provincial capital for their training. "Our first task was to carry out a three-day parenting orientation. We asked people to gather in the temple and more than 50 women came," she recalls, adding that 10 of the women were pregnant and the others had all recently given birth. UNICEF monitors the provincial training of volunteers and works with the trainers to prepare materials and training guides
"We taught the group about several aspects of parenting, including the benefits of giving breast milk colostrum [the thick yellowish milk produced by the mother in the first few days after birth], correct feeding methods and monitoring their children’s growth. For many of the women a lot of the techniques were new," says Teng.
Village volunteers
Mo, 36, was one of the women who attended the orientation. She has three children and is now pregnant with her fourth. "I took care of my first child in the traditional way and he is not 100 per cent healthy, he is not strong," says Mo. "When my new baby is born I will follow the new techniques I have learnt. For instance, I did not know about colostrum milk before and I never gave it to my other children – I threw it away."
Her friend La, also 36, says that some of what is taught is quite different from what most women know. "Traditional practice says that after giving birth you should get back to work as soon as possible. But this training said that we should take a rest and take care of ourselves – it’s the opposite, so it can be confusing for some people. Now I’ve decided that it’s better to rest so that I am ready to give breastmilk to my child. I’ve told my husband too."
UNICEF supported the parenting sessions by providing growth charts and other materials required by trained volunteers such as Teng in 115 villages during 2001. The topics included nutrition, treatment of illness, breastfeeding and growth monitoring. UNICEF and the Lao government planned to expand the number of participating villages even further during 2002.
"I have noticed people changing already," says Teng. "Now most people feed their children exclusively from the breast for the first six months. People have changed fast because the growth chart shows them that it really works."
