WHAT WE DO
From a humble beginning working directly with a handful of mothers to nurse their malnourished children back to vitality, HIAM Health has grown into a far-reaching organisation with supporters across the globe.
But one thing has never changed and never will: community empowerment is the driving force behind everything we do.
We believe that providing the people of Timor Leste with the knowledge, equipment and support to address their challenges is not just the key to progress but also to creating the sense of ownership that is essential for solutions to be sustainable.
All our programmes reflect that core belief.
WHAT WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW
Among our long-running programmes are training courses t0 ensure the next generation of Timorese farmers are equipped with the best techniques. These vary from six month courses at our training centre in Dili and two-week courses in the districts for small farmer groups.
Good nutrition is elemental to healthy communities and our expertise in fostering nutrition-sensitive agriculture has seen HIAM Health training Government extension workers in every municipality to ensure an adequate diet for people throughout the year. NSA is also a key part of the USAID Health System Sustainability Activity in Timor Leste, which HIAM Health is implementing.
WHAT WE’VE DONE
In more than 20 years, HIAM Health has grown from a single borrowed room at a hospital to having a substantial training and rehabilitation centre. Its reputation has grown similarly, known for its work throughout Timor Leste and with support from around the world.
What hasn’t changed is our focus on preventing the blight of malnutrition. Initially that was addressed by nurturing malnourished children back to health but also by educating their caregivers so they will not relapse on return to their home municipalities. At its peak, a dozen families would be housed at HIAM Health’s residential rehabilitation centre in Dili, with the effectiveness of our approach shown when only a tiny proportion relapsed.
Now we focus more on averting malnutrition than remedying it. We do this in many ways, including running training courses at our headquarters in Dili and in the districts, by promoting nutrition-senstive agriculture and cultivation of the superfood Moringa.
WHAT WE WANT TO DO NEXT
We will not rest until the blight of malnutrition has been eliminated. We aim to bolster the hard-won progress that has already been made in Timor Leste while also going further to improve diets.
This includes helping farmers in remote areas by linking them with markets for excess produce they grow, providing a source of money to help their families. Creating an international export market for Moringa is another plan to boost the prospects of everyone.