Mother Support Group (MSG) provides nutrition awareness for children under five

Manufahi, 03 March 2026 – “I am always active in all Programa Integradu Saúde (Integrated Health Programme) activities that are conducted in our village,” says Zelita Isaac Fernandes, a member of the Mother Support Group in Searema, Manufahi Municipality.

The Mother Support Group (MSG) is one of the networks that assist other mothers and families with health, nutrition and water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues, especially pregnant and lactating mothers, and children aged 5 years and below. Zelita has been a member of MSG since 2024, 2 years today. 

Zelita lives in Searema, an Aldeia in Suco Babulo within Manufahi Municipality, located on the south coast of Timor-Leste, surrounded by farms, forests, streams, and hills, with agriculture as the dominant land use.

Zelita is an energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate person who always wants to help. She is motivated by her work in the community. She shows her commitment to providing services to pregnant women, lactating women, and especially children, as she really enjoys being involved in cooking demonstration and feeding practice for children 5 years old and below. 
 

Feeding children is her favourite activity. Since she joined the MSG as a member, she has always made sure to be present during the feeding practice, because she realizes that she has a role and responsibility among others is to show the mothers how to properly feed the children including meal preparations.

“I come to provide support to feed the children aged five years and below, because I like to feed the children”, says Zelita.

She explains all the reasons every caregiver should follow the correct practice of feeding children: it helps to support rapid growth and brain development, protects against illness, reduces the risk of malnutrition, lays the foundation for healthy eating habits, supports emotional bonding, improves learning and future productivity, ensures a safe transition from breastfeeding to family foods,  immunity, and future success of the children.  

With support from the Government of Japan and UNICEF, Zelita received training in weighing children and using Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) measurements for children under 5 years old. MUAC is a rapid, cost-effective screening tool used to assess malnutrition by measuring the left upper arm circumference. 

“I am still expecting to get more training on how to become a professional MSG member,” she says. “For example, I will get training on how to use the communication materials to do health and nutrition key messages promotion, interview techniques to collect information from the families on children under five years old, and how to use a tablet to input the data collected from the field.”

During an outreach health and nutrition fair in Searema, Zelita sits on the mats with a family member to explain the importance of cooking with available local groceries rather than imported ones, and to explain the different types of food for the children’s good health. 

She is also involved in the cooking demonstrations that are conducted once a month in her village. 

As a mother of four children and a university student, Zelita finds it challenging to manage her time to be with her family, participate in activities as an MSG member, and help her family in the agricultural field, but she remains committed.

“Even though it is challenging to manage my time, but I always happy to work voluntarily as a member of Mother Support Group, because I want to learn more about how to help people, and learn more to become a good MSG member in my village. Aside from that, I want to gain experience as well so that I can practice it in my family,” says Zelita. 

As a member of MSG, Zelita has been helping communities, especially mothers, access health services and supporting mothers and children, which will also contribute to strengthening the Manufahi Municipality health system in the future. 

Zelita feels proud to be a member of MSG alongside others because they are trusted by the community. The community members trust the MSG members because they can motivate families to participate in regular health and nutrition outreach programmes, encourage families to complete their children's vaccinations, teach families to follow good feeding practices, and visit health facilities regularly. The members of the MSG are not only women, but men as well. All of them work together in their own village when there is activity that needs their contribution and involvement. 

In Manufahi Municipality itself, there are 398 MSG members who actively support the Ministry of Health at the Municipal level during the monthly health and nutrition outreach programmes conducted at the suco or village level.
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