WHAT WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW

HIAM Health’s initial mission involved nurturing malnourished children back to vitality and helping their mothers keep them healthy, but now most of our efforts address the causes of malnutrition rather than mitigating its effects.
For more than 10 years, we have run training courses to ensure the next generation of Timorese farmers are equipped with the best techniques so they can not only grow nutritious food for their families but also have excess to sell in the market to earn money. Six-month courses are held in our training centre in Dili and two-week short courses are conducted in the districts for small farmer groups.
An example of the benefits that flow when farmers are better trained and properly equipped can be seen in the pilot programme in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization which provides surplus crops grown by farmer groups in Manufahi to boost the quality of school meals at 10 schools in the municipality.
Good nutrition is elemental to healthy communities and fostering nutrition-sensitive agriculture will help reverse the trend of unbalanced and inadequate diets. Growing more nutritious crops is one of the goals of the USAID Health System Sustainability Activity in Timor Leste, which HIAM Health is implementing by creating District Health Boards in remote parts of Ermera municipality.
National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International has chosen HIAM Health to run a four-year support programme for farmers who are revitalising their aging coffee plantations, including teaching them how to grow a nutritious range of crops in their home kitchen gardens.