Mali the Children in Mali

Mali

The children in Mali are some of the most malnourished in the world. Much of this, of course, is due to the extreme amount of poverty. Along with this poverty come illness and a high mortality rate mostly of children and older individuals, but also of all ages. In this paper, I cannot look at economics or diseases that lead to malnourishment. Rather, I want to look at the other reasons for the malnourishment. This relates to the lack of the right foods and the way that mothers feed their children.

First and foremost is the problem with lack of food. Because of the drying land and then the arrival of the locusts, the people in Mali have been able to grow even less food than before -- which was little to begin with. It is essential that the right foods be delivered to them.

Education is just as important. Surveys show that there a great many children are malnourished because of illnesses, especially diarrhea. Mali mothers give babies liquids other than breast milk at a very early age, instead of solid foods. It is best that solid foods be introduced to a baby about the age of six months. The surveys show that nearly half of all the infants age 7 to 9 months still did not receive solids, and even at a year old, there was a high percentage that were only receiving liquids. This leads to a high number of infant illnesses and deaths and, if the baby survives, major problems as he or she grows older. It is important that these women be educated in the healthiest way of taking care of their children.

In many respects, Mali women are not much different than mothers all over the world. Even in Western societies with a high socioeconomic population, many people do not eat the proper foods. Recently, for example, there has been a great deal of news about the obesity of children. This is with children of poor, middle class and wealthy families. They are not eating the proper foods, nor are their parents. It is just in the past couple of years that there has been more of an emphasis by restaurants and food manufacturers on low fat, low sugar and low salt foods, because it is realized what these other foods are doing to our health -- an increase in diabetes, heart attacks, etc. People have to be educated on what foods to eat and how much and the negative impact of a poor diet.

Similarly, there are many pregnant women and new mothers who do not have the right diets for themselves or their children. They, too, need to be educated.

In Mali, education is also important. An anthropologist first has to understand all the reasons behind why children are being fed as they are. There could be economic, social, cultural and religious reasons for this. One should never assume that he or she knows the true cause for a behavior. It could be something else entirely, or a blend of several different reasons.

In other words, first the anthropologist has to educate him or herself about the Mali culture, the mother and child bond and how infants are fed and why. Based on learning these cultural norms (and, assuming that the necessary foods can be obtained), it is necessary to develop a training course that will be understood and, more importantly, accepted by the Mali women. Just as it does not work to only drop off food and assume that it is being eaten properly and by the right individuals, it will not work to just develop training materials and hand them over.

Once again, these materials not only have to be understood, but accepted. If they are seen as an infringement or an indictment of their own values and abilities, they will not be used. There has to be buy in. Also, the education should not come from the outsider, but rather from the people themselves. Several individuals have to be trained in each village to be coordinators and educators, responsible for encouraging mothers to attend the instructions and for the teaching itself. These coordinators would also go through a training course. Because there may be a high turnover in such a position, regular training would have to continue.

The aims of the instructional materials would be to increase awareness of the consequences of malnutrition, the state of health of the infants and children and the high importance of a well-balanced diet rich in nutrients, especially for small children and pregnant and nursing mothers. Stress has to be placed on the benefits of the nutrition-filled foods provided, and how to prepare and eat them.