KISTEFOS - MENTOR MOM’S PROJECT

Buffalo City Metro Development Agency provided SPF with funding to undertake a project within Buffalo City. The BCMDA funded project gave SPF the perfect opportunity to undertake the Mentor Mom’s Project. The BCMDA funding, together with the Vitamin Angels provision of Multi-vitamins and the PEPFAR OVC and abused woman project provided the perfect platform for a layered project approach in the Newlands area. 3 sites/clinics were chosen namely Newlands, Thembelethu and Masiphile.

The model implemented was to synergize BCMDA, PEPFAR and Vitamin Angels resources into this Mentor Moms / Newlands / pilot project.  This approach will be more widely seen and implemented in SPF in the foreseeable future if this pilot delivers the expected outcomes.

The Mentor Moms form the basis whereby 3 Mentor Mom facilitators have been recruited from the communities and form the basis/anchor of the Mentor Mom’s pilot project. Pregnant woman or woman with new born babies are recruited into the Mentor Mom support groups in village.

The Mentor Moms are expected to actively lead this group of 15-20 new mothers and pregnant women on a journey of support and care for the first 1000 days of a child’s life, essentially from conception until the child is two years of age.  Participating mothers are rewarded for their active participation in terms of assistance in establishing household gardens and are provided with fresh eggs at regular intervals as a positive incentive if they reach certain project deliverables/milestones.

Multi-vitamins obtained from Vitamin Angels are provided to the pregnant and lactating woman for the project duration.

This Mentor Mom’s project is also being successfully implemented in OR Tambo by Khuzwayo August, the methodology has been obtained from him and his team for use in this pilot and a big thank you to him for this.

Success:

• Mentor Moms attended regularly and their children are thriving.
• Vitamin Angels an international NGO, has provided multi-vitamins for distribution in hard to reach areas where pregnant and breast feeding woman were not receiving multi-vitamins.
• The multi-vitamins were provided to the pregnant and breast feeding woman who have joined the mentor moms project to improve their nutritional status.
• All participating Mentor Moms have established their own household food gardens and received their first tray of eggs as a positive reward.
• The PEPFAR OVC project was integrated into the Mentor Mom’s pilot project whereby vulnerable woman and children were supported in terms of assessing appropriate Government support depending on their respective needs through a safety net structure.

Two of our Mentor Moms groups were eager to set up two small businesses in the area, the one on food production and the other a sewing enterprise. They are being supported with business skills training.