HIAM Health director Rosaria Martins da Cruz says the organization’s green house program provides an outlet for women which they can do while looking after children and doing housework.
The program helps women to set up green spaces at their homes to produce fruit and vegetables.
Da Cruz said since 2012, HIAM Health had helped 14 families, many of whom had family members receiving treatment at its malnutrition rehabilitation center.
The families are located in Dili, Liquisa, Ermera, Manatuto, Baucau, Viqueque and Aileu.
Da Cruz said the program not only provided jobs for women but also helped them secure nutritious food and reduce kitchen wastage.
She said objective of the greenhouse project was to prevent malnutrition and give women an opportunity to take part in activities outside of child rearing.
It could also bring down rates of domestic violence, she ventured.
Program participant Rosa Soares said having a greenhouse had brought many benefits to her family as they were spending less money on food, which they could now spend on their children’s education.
The program had given women jobs and allowed them to teach their own children about nutrition, she said.
Fellow participant Matilde da Silva said she enjoyed taking part in the program as it gave them the means to utilize previously useless land to provide food for their families.
“I thought that we could only plant flowers in front of the house, but when I came to this center and I see there are vegetables planted inside flower pot on every side of the building. This is a good thing that needs to be developed,” she said.
