Ximeng Preschools of the Future (POF) project received a grant of 50,938RMB from the New Zealand Embassy for the improvement of nutrition for 270 preschool children. The grant mainly targets improving nutrition for preschool children through purchasing of eggs and chicks and facilitating skills training on taking care of chicks and nutrition training for the parents to contribute towards 10 POF-classes.  Providing an egg a day as breakfast can help improve children’s health and thus an equal opportunity to develop and change their future life.

After eating eggs for a few weeks all the preschool children became active and their participation in school activities improved.

Moyang preschool is located in the poorest part of the county. The road is far away and travelling to that place takes almost a day. The children live in poverty and their living conditions cannot be compared to those of the children in the city. Some children in the city do not lack an egg and a glass of milk for breakfast but for many of those in the village breakfast is only a bowl of soup and a bowl of rice which cannot meet the nutritional needs of the body. In some households children do not even have breakfast to start their day.

To improve the nutrition for preschool children each family received chicks which will produce eggs and therefore secure that the children will continue to get nutritious food.

A teacher at Moyang preschool shares her experiences on how the  giving of eggs brought a sudden change to the life at the preschool.

“My name is Yan Sanhua. I am a teacher at Moyang, Ximeng’s “Little Sun preschool”. A day in class seemed endless because some of the children could not concentrate, neither did they show interest in the lessons. During outdoor activities the children only played a little, they easily got tired and sweat could be seen running all over their bodies. I could see that they did not enjoy the fun of the outdoor games. Only a few children could participate throughout the lessons and the outdoor activities.

The families are happy to have received the chicks and they take very good care of them.

One day I received a call from the Project Office staff informing me of a new development. I was informed that I should start giving eggs to the children and that each child should be given an egg per day. The day I started giving out the eggs all the children were so happy and shouted “The teacher is good, she has bought eggs for us to eat.” I told them that it was not the teacher who had bought the eggs but that the  Project Team had discussed in a meeting and agreed that the children should have eggs and that they will eat eggs every day.

The chickens are not meant to be slaughtered, but to produce eggs so that the children can continue to get a nutritious egg every day.

After a few weeks the children were full of energy, thanks to the eggs! They actively participated in class and during outdoor activities. Now our outdoor activities are much fun with all the children taking part in the games. Not only are the children active in the outdoor activities but they are more focused and concentrated on learning. The children and I are grateful for this initiative to improve the children’s nutrition and physical wellbeing. I would like to thank New Zealand Embassy for their concern about the children’s health. Thank you for your love.”

After receiving the chicks the families were given training on how to take care of them.


Project summary:
The Preschools of the Future (POF) project in Ximeng is funded by Shanghai based Huang Yicong Foundation and executed by Humana People to People China. The project aims to support 540, 3-6 year old children in natural villages in Ximeng County, Puer City. At present 417 children are enrolled in the preschool classes.
The project also pays attention to children’s health and nutrition. . It provides nutritious meals to the children and helps to develop children’s good hygiene habits in the preschool. The project aims to be sustainable by developing the teachers and community’s capacity in order to take over the POF schools after 3 years intensive project support, followed by a 1 year phasing out period.
   
This project is funded by Shanghai based Huang Yicong Charities Foundation (www.yicong found.org/), New Zealand Embassy and Humana People to People Baltic (www.humana.It).
Content in this article reflects only the views of the authors and not those of the funder.