Musoma, Rorya municipalities set to benefit from Tulonge Afya’s five-year project.

Musoma and Rorya municipal councils in Mara region are expected to benefit from the five-year Tulonge Afya project which aims at providing education in the community on behavior change which will lead into healthy lives.
The project which is being implemented by the government of Tanzania in partnership with the non-governmental organization FHI360 under the One World Sustainable Livelihood (OWSL) is funded by USAID.
Tulonge Afya among other things will provide education on infectious diseases as well as education on reproductive health to residents of the two municipalities.

Speaking in Musoma on Thursday during a training for mothers on the importance of breastfeeding dubbed Mother Meets Up Event, OWSL Coordinator, Dr. Theophil Kayombo said that with the implementation of the project they hope to reach more than three hundred thousand beneficiaries in the two councils, most of them women and youth.
He said that his organization has decided to implement the project in Mara region due to the indicators of reproductive, maternal and child health being low compared to other councils within the region.
 He said that various methods will be used to reach the beneficiaries, including the formation of groups, education in various ways with the aim of reaching the beneficiaries in their groups so that they can be educated and follow the best health practices as directed by experts.

The coordinator of social services mobilization from the office of the Chief Medical of Musoma municipality, Dr Magreth Shaku thanked the organization for deciding to implement the project within Musoma municipality saying the project has come at the right time and it will help in raising public awareness on various health issues including breastfeeding.
She cited some of the challenges that include some mothers refusing to breastfeed their babies claiming that their breast will not be the same again and also the challenge of poor fathers' involvement in the whole issue of child rearing.
 He urged mothers to ensure that they breastfeed properly for the benefit of child’s development and added that breastfeeding is a great way to protect the mother against breast cancer.
 And the project coordinator, Cyprian Lungu, said that the project aims to bring about behavior change by combating negative behaviors in communities that prevents members of the community to get better health care.
 He said that mothers will receive education on how they should prepare for health before and after childbirth as well as how best to raise their children under the age of five which will help to have a better society.