HETN / SSVP Crèche feeding project
Described by Nelson Mandela as 'exhilarating and precarious', Alexandra Township (Alex) in north eastern Johannesburg is a sprawling ghetto.

A Presidential Node, Alex has been identified by the SA Government as an area of exceptional need. Over half a million people live in an area of approximately two square kilometres. HIV/AIDS, TB and malnutrition are rife. There are many orphans and vulnerable children.
HETN’s intervention in Alex is to apply a population based feeding programme through a network of crèches. Our aim is to address nutritional depletion in these vulnerable children who exist in an economically and socially deprived environment in one of the poorest communities of Johannesburg.

For this project, HETN is partnering with the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SSVP), a Catholic organisation that has been supporting the very poor and sick of Alex for many years.
SSVP has identified over 400 informal crèches in Alex, providing childcare for 10,000 preschool children of the city's poorest residents. Mothers or carers need to work or to seek work, so they leave their children – from the age of 4 months to 7 years – at these crèches from early morning until late evening.
Most children in South Africa suffer from a multiple micronutrient deficiencies - particularly iron, zinc and vitamin A. Despite this, the feeding of such children usually consists of filling bellies rather than making them nutritionally replete. Most are fed the staple diet of refined maize porridge (pap).

Many of the children have skin and hair problems, runny noses, frequent illnesses, glazed stares and they sleep for most of the day. They often do not interact with each other.
HETN is using e'Pap - a novel, pre-cooked, MVM-fortified, wholegrain, maize / soya / sorghum mix, which has been shown to be effective in restoring healthy nutritional status in individuals who were previously nutritionally deplete. It delivers, in a single food portion, 28 nutrients in a bioavailable form.
Within 6 weeks of receiving e'Pap, the children’s skin and hair improves, their colds disappear, they gain weight and not only interact, but play noisily all day.
 
It may surprise you to know that it costs just £1 per month to provide each child with a daily meal of e’Pap.

This project is critical and will have a major role in ensuring that the importance of good nutrition is understood.
Careful monitoring and evaluation will prove the point.

The importance of proper nutrition, particularly for growing children, cannot be overstressed. Just observe these ‘before and after e’Pap’ pictures.


For every pound you donate to HETN, we spend one pound on e’Pap meal portions.
You may wonder why e’Pap works if it is so inexpensive. It is because it is an African solution. It has been
established as an intervention for 8 years. It is distributed in 15 African countries.

 

At HETN, we are impressed. You should be too.

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