Operational program grant no. 519-0370-G-00-9544-00 to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to support the CRS/CARITAS maternal and child health (MCH) program in El Salvador

CARITAS, CRS"s Salvadoran affiliate, will assist in the implementation of the project. Each of the 450 CRS/CARITAS health and nutrition centers that participate in the P.L. 480 maternal/child feeding program in El Salvador will receive weight scales and growth charts, which will be used as tools for teaching mothers about child nutrition. Center staff and volunteer mothers will also receive training in growth surveillance and other techniques to detect inadequate weight gain and nutritional deficiencies. CRS/CARITAS will standardize the use of weight scales and growth charts in all centers to provide greater information regarding the program"s impact on the health conditions of participating children. The CARITAS Soybean Production/Nutrition Project, which provides production-related TA and credit, together with nutrition education, to small farmers will be more fully integrated with the MCH program. CARITAS also plans to expand the project to other areas. Funding for MCH activities under this component will be secured through resources such as beneficiary contributions and private donations. The use of beneficiary contributions will also provide, inter alia, training for CARITAS Diocesan health and nutrition promoters. CRS and CARITAS will conduct an evaluation of the MCH program, to include a baseline survey; a simple Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) survey of randomly selected mothers; and an impact survey. Finally, some 10,000 beneficiaries currently being served under the Other Child Feeding Program will be integrated into the MCH program, for a total of 130,000 beneficiaries.