Advanced training of peer educators in early childhood development

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The objective of the project is to prepare a group of peer educators in the city of Matagalpa and its surrounding rural areas. The peer educators provide counselling and education to the families of these areas in the fields of health and nutrition. The activities of the project are divided into two components: educational activities and the advanced training of the peer educators. Therefore the project provides an apprenticeship-based training model for peer educators in the health sector, providing preventive health and maternal health care education services for the families with limited resources and low level of education in the urban and rural areas of Matagalpa.The main components of the project is 1) to establish a network of health education based in peer education in Matagalpa area, and 2) to facilitate formal professional training for the peer educators. There already exists a network of peer educators of Movimiento Comunal (a Nicaraguan NGO) in Matagalpa area, with experience in working in the field of health education. However, they have not been receiving a systematic training in the field of health, and the lack of advanced and officially recognized training prevents them from providing these services for the public or the health service system.The essential topics of the formal education, as well as the peer education, are maternal health, child health, nutrition, prevention and care of malnutrition, exclusive 6-month breast feeding, maternal nutrition and health, family nutrition, hygiene and family planning. Furthermore, the objective is to provide the pregnant and breastfeeding beneficiaries with basic skills and knowledge in the care, development and nutrition of the 0-3 year-old children, guiding them to support and enhance the normal growth and psychomotor development. Another objective of the project is to prevent premature pregnancies and provide monitoring and counselling for teenage mothers in order to prevent maternal deaths.The peer education will have a strong gender element from the beginning. The activities are planned to include the whole family. The male members of the family will be included in the activities, and particular training sessions will be organized to them.