Yunnan Institute of Development Funded 2007

A survey conducted in the Yuxi Prefecture, Yunnan Province in China highlighted some startling results. The Daxi villagers, for example, are malnourished due to myths about nutritious foods available locally and their habit of eating only 2 meals a day with no breakfast, too little fruits and vegetables, very little protein, and foods with high sugar content, especially for the children.

The local health authorities also revealed that people from the village only go to the hospital for serious birth delivery problems. It is a common belief in the area that transporting a pregnant women brings bad luck to the vehicle transporting her.

The Yunnan Institute of Development launched a training program funded by VGIF for selected men and women from area villages who will become Community Health Workers. The disciplines include: nutrition (including nutrition for expectant mothers and their babies), child development and children's diseases, HIV/AIDS and STDs, maternal health and reproductive health, and women's organs and their diseases. Selected men and women from area villages will be trained in these disciplines and be called Community Health Workers.

The picture above shows a participant at the nutrition seminar happily receiving a prize after answering questions correctly.