Four-year-old Sithusi is full of energy and smiles. Until a year ago, she was anything but.

For the first years of her life, Sithusi hovered at the edge of severe malnutrition, and she was lethargic, sick and small for her age. Her mother, Chathurangani, had no idea how to help her.

In rural areas in Sri Lanka, where Sithusi and Chathurangani live, families are too often without — resources time, money, knowledge — to provide what their young children need.

The quality of children’s first years plays a strong role in their future physical, cognitive, communicative, social and emotional development. With funding from Fonterra, ChildFund is working in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, to help families fill those gaps through the ENHANCE (Ensure Nutrition, Health and Children’s Education) project, which also has programs in the Philippines and Indonesia.

“I didn’t give my child even the nutritious things that I can easily find in our own garden, because I didn’t know their nutritious value,” says Chathurangani, Sithusi’s mother.

A central purpose of the ENHANCE program is to enhance the knowledge, attitudes and practices of parents and caregivers about the needs of children ages zero to five. So, to improve child nutrition in the area, the project approaches the problem from multiple angles, through teaching parents malnutrition awareness and how to prepare healthy meals, through training and support to plant home gardens and make and use their own compost and by providing nutritious midday meals at its Early Childhood Development centers.

“I didn’t give my child even the nutritious things that I can easily find in our own garden because I didn’t know their nutritious value,” says Chathurangani. “Now I know it well.” She fortifies Sithusi’s meals with greens and grains, and she meets weekly with her malnutrition awareness group to learn more. “Sithusi is happier, healthier and plays more often,” she says.

Nourishment for children takes a variety of shapes and includes much more than food.