This post originally appeared on the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish website and was written by Francis Mbogholi, Catherine Sarange, and Elizabeth Kamau.

Medza is a 74-year-old woman who lives in a village called Keresha, approximately one kilometer away from the shores of the Indian Ocean near Mayungu, a fish landing site in Kenya. The ground in the village is rocky, and the residents typically earn income by crushing stones into small pebbles with stone hammers and selling them to builders or masons. Medza also crushes stones to earn a livelihood and is one of the participants in the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish activity called Samaki Salama (which means “fish security” in Kiswahili). Together with her son, who is also one of the fishermen involved with the activity, she takes care of her 4-year-old granddaughter named Mariam and cooks most of the family’s meals.

The Samaki Salama activity worked with fishermen to issue modified basket traps for more sustainable fishing and with caregivers to educate them on the importance of increased fish consumption, child nutrition and hygiene and dietary diversity. Medza actively participated in cooking demonstrations organized by the Samaki Salama team, and she received three home visits for further nutrition education.

Medza showed a deep curiosity to learn about nutrition. She was older than most of the other caregivers participating in the activity and noted that much of the information about increasing fish consumption and having a balanced diet was new to her.

During the first home visit by a Samaki Salama nutrition educator, it was evident that Medza needed additional education on child feeding, hygiene and sanitation. Mariam had been having only three meals a day with mostly starchy foods and few vegetables and fruits, and Medza would not cook food using oil because, to her knowledge, oil was not good for people’s health, especially children. Instead, she preferred boiling the food, but she complained that the child did not like to eat much.

The nutrition educator, assisted by a community health volunteer to translate the messages to Medza, provided her with information including the importance of having a diverse diet for Mariam, how to shallow fry fish and the nutrients in fish. They also added that it was good for her to use some oil while cooking food for the child instead of boiling because it makes food more appealing and, most importantly, the oil enhances the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins, which are vital for the child’s growth and development and also helps prevent infections. Medza was glad to hear that if her granddaughter ate fish, fruits and had a diverse diet, she would stop falling sick so often.

Later, Medza attended the cooking demonstrations by the nutrition educators when they came to her village. Even though she needed some translation of the Swahili words to Giriama (the local dialect), she was enthusiastic about participating in the cooking demonstration activities. These activities included nutrition education on the nutrients in fish, food menu games that introduced the concept of different food varieties by using stars to indicate nutrients in food (the more stars on the foods the more nutrients it contained), and cooking fish and indigenous vegetables (i.e., amaranth). The children were also given fruits such as bananas and oranges during the demonstrations. The nutrition educators observed Medza happily participating in the activities like washing children's hands, grating coconut, and partaking in the star food menu game.

"I am happy to have learned something new thanks to the hands-on experience during the cooking demonstration," Medza said. "I learned how to wash vegetables before shredding them and how to cook them for a few minutes to preserve the nutrients. Before, I would cook leafy vegetables like amaranth by boiling the leaves for a long time until they turned brown, but now, I have changed my cooking technique after the cooking demonstration to cook the vegetables for only a few minutes to preserve nutrients and keep the green color."

Medza additionally increased the number of feeding times for Mariam from three to five and the food varieties as well.

"After Mariam has had a meal in the morning, at around 10 A.M., I give her some milk, so she can add more weight," she said. "Mariam is also eating more vegetables and beans. Sometimes, she even asks for more food, and I also make sure food is ready when Mariam comes home from school in the afternoon."

From the cooking demonstration, Medza said that she learned that oil is important in cooking meals for children, and she has started shallow frying fish and adds onions and tomatoes while frying to enhance the flavor. When she does not have fish, she boils beans and then stews them with onions and tomatoes. Medza mentioned that she reminds her son, a fisherman, to come home with not only fish but also fruits for Mariam since he is the one able to access the market. 

"Whatever I was taught in the home visits and cooking demonstration, I try my best to do as I was instructed," Medza said. "I look forward to learning more."

Note: Medza and Mariam are both pseudonyms out of respect for the participants’ privacy.