![The Integrated Care for Early Childhood Development project (AKA OKhala Sana) —funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation—is being implemented by two of ChildFund’s local partner organizations in Nampula Province, Mozambique. The initiative operates in communities where ChildFund also runs child sponsorship programs, ensuring a comprehensive approach to child well-being. “We realized that there wasn't much parental investment in the proper care of children here,” says Bruno de Alegria Vasquez-Gurua, an Okhala Sana Project Officer and staff member with Associacao Para O Fortalecimento Communitario, one of ChildFund’s local partners in Nampula. Mr. Gurua sights premature complimentary feeding of young children, lack of paternal involvement in the family, poor sanitation and hygiene practices, and a prevailing culture of young children not being brought in for routine health screenings and vaccination during their early years as just some of the problems he’s witnessed in the communities where this project is being implemented. Locally known as Okhala Sana—which means “Child Well-Being” in the Makua language—the program primarily aims to strengthen the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of parents and caregivers of children aged zero to three. Facilitators, who are community members trained through the public health sector and affiliated with local implementing partners, deliver a responsive parenting model through monthly group sessions and regular home visits. These sessions cover essential topics such as nutrition, early stimulation, sanitation and hygiene, health, child protection, and the importance of nurturing relationships between mothers and fathers, as well as between caregivers and children. Caregivers also participate in regular nutrition workshops and cooking demonstrations, where they gain hands-on experience preparing healthy, locally available meals for their young children. In collaboration with Mozambique’s Ministry of Health, the program organizes monthly growth monitoring sessions and supports the distribution of vitamin supplements, deworming medications, and routine vaccinations for children three years of age and under. After ten months of parenting sessions and individualized home visits, parents are equipped with the tools and knowledge to raise their children in safe, healthy, and nurturing environments. By the conclusion of the three-year grant in 2026, the program is expected to have engaged over 2,000 caregivers in responsive parenting sessions, with even more participating in nutrition workshops, cooking demonstrations, and child health initiatives supported by the project. “Nampula province is the most populous province in Mozambique,” says Henriqueta Paulo, Okhala Sana’s Project Coordinator. “It also has the highest rate of malnutrition in the country, and is economically one of the poorest. Most, if not all, of the project's participants live off subsistence agriculture.” Henriqueta Paulo, Okhala Sana’s Project Coordinator: “With this project, we've witnessed that fathers and male caregivers are now more involved with their children, because they know that spending time with their children has a positive impact on the child’s mental health and growth. You might meet a father going to the market, or to the neighbor's house, or out for a walk with his child, and maybe the father is carrying his child along with him. So this time that the father spends with his son or daughter, which he didn't used to, is already a success for us.” “Furthermore, the hygienic practices of the participating households have changed. We realized that in the past, some houses didn't have a place to put the garbage or a pantry to put the dishes in after washing. Houses weren't cleaned properly, and children didn't bathe as often. However, with the parenting sessions, we've noticed that parents take more care of their children and the cleanliness of the home. With these parenting sessions, something changes, the atmosphere in the house changes and children are becoming healthier. Cases of malaria and diarrhea have been reduced among participating households. So, these are positive changes that we see happening day by day.” Florinda Joana Francisco, Field Coordinator, ECD for EHALE Association, another implementing local partner: “There was a lot of violence in the homes before, but from the moment they attend the sessions, the families who had these conflicts now manage to talk among themselves and the violence has drastically decreased. And [before] the children were scared of their father. Their father was like a monster to them. Everyone stayed in their place quietly because the father used to slap them. He would just get angry without any reason. So now the children are getting closer to their parents. The children are surprised to see their father running up to them, giving them a hug. But before the project, it was the child who ran, ran away, hid, stayed in his corner. The women can also be open and can talk to their husbands without fear.”](/contentassets/cb6d35c9f17a40a19428214abde1adc1/where_we_work_hero.jpg "Nampula Province Scenery and Communities")
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