Hoekyaw’s mother died when he was one month old. He was abandoned by his family and brought to this monastery in the Mandalay region of Myanmar.
Monastic schools, like this one supported by ChildFund, provide care and education for orphans and other vulnerable children.
Teacher Daw Hnin Hnin Wai looks after Hoekyaw, now aged 3. She’s been at the school for 5 years and teaches Grade 3.
When Hoekyaw was younger, Daw Hnin Hnin Wai would take care of him “like my own baby.” She would take him to class. At night he sleeps with her and an orphan girl that Daw Hnin Hnin Wai also looks after.
“He has good manners. He doesn’t play with small children – he likes being with adults,” she says. “He learns quickly. He knows lots of words and mannerisms even though he hasn’t been taught them.
“He’s like an old man. When guests come, he talks to everyone like an adult. He`s always learning and wants to do things on his own. Only if he can’t do something himself will he ask for help. He even puts on tanaka (yellow face paste) himself.”
Daw Hnin Hnin Wai says when Hoekyaw is five, he will start having lessons. But informally he already attends a lot of classes and listens.
“He’s very confident – he’s bright and sharp,” she says. “Everyone knows him and likes him. He never asks for any snacks. He just eats rice and curry.”
Whenever Daw Hnin Hnin Wai goes to visit her mother, Hoekyaw goes too. He knows she’s leaving and doesn’t want to be left behind.
Soon, Daw Hnin Hnin Wai will retire and look after her own mother who lives some distance from Mandalay. She’ll have to leave Hoekyaw to be looked after by other teachers or monks.
“I feel really sad to be leaving him. If I was rich I would take him with me.”
“Breastfeeding gives children all the nutrients they needs,” says Saly (pictured below), a ChildFund-trained community health volunteer in Senegal, to the dozen mothers seated around her on a large straw mat in a courtyard`s dappled shade.
Throughout the world, ChildFund-trained volunteers are working to educate families about the benefits, for both mother and child, of breastfeeding.
The women, each with a child at her breast, listen carefully to Saly. One rocks side to side. Another stares at her nursing baby, holding folds of colourful fabric away from a cheek that should be rounder than it is. Another gently jounces her little girl, who has fallen asleep and hangs limp in her arms.
Under a USAID-supported community-based health program led by ChildFund in Senegal, Saly is helping lead a nutrition and recovery workshop in her community. The participants are mothers with children under two whom health volunteers have identified as malnourished.
The workshops are held for 10 days in a row, and include growth monitoring, individual counselling and nutrition education delivered along with songs and dance and a meal.
“We gather the children with their mothers to teach the mothers how to help their children overcome the malnutrition,” says Saly. “When they return home, they will practice what we teach them here.”
Breastfeeding is a key factor in preventing and treating malnutrition, but its benefits go beyond simply providing nutrients. These are just a few:
Strengthens a newborn`s immune system In many of the communities where ChildFund works, it is news to most mothers that breastfeeding within hours after birth confers antibodies that lay the foundation for a newborn`s immune system. “It`s like a vaccine for the child,” Saly says.
Helps mothers to complete childbirth Immediate breastfeeding benefits the mother as well, causing a hormonal shift that spurs her body to finish the process of childbirth and release the placenta.
Builds a bond between mother and child breastfeeding`s benefits are more than merely physiological. Saly explains, “There is a close relationship between the child and the mother during this time, because breastfeeding develops affection between the child and the mother, and it can help the mother to teach the child other behaviours.”
Increases a child`s IQ A mother`s responses to her baby during feeding can dramatically boost brain development. So, it makes sense that breastfeeding is also associated with a three-point increase in children`s IQ.
Exclusive breastfeeding from birth until six months is the single most effective intervention for preventing child deaths.
It`s surprising, then, that only 39% of women worldwide practice exclusive breastfeeding for their children`s first six months.
Why is that the case? The fact is that while breastfeeding may be natural, it`s not always easy.
What does it take? Primarily, mothers need information and support to make breastfeeding happen. Families, health workers and volunteers, and communities at large, also need information so they understand both why breastfeeding is important and what their role is in supporting nursing mothers.
