Making minced carrots, spinach and chicken |
You may not recognize this word, but for a young Cambodian
woman trying to feed her baby it is a very important concept. BorBor is a simple Cambodian term which
means “rice soup” or “porridge”.
It’s a process which consists of adding more water to the white rice
when cooking it so that it is a thin consistency making the texture in such a
way that babies can eat it. Rice itself before its brown shell is removed is
actually very healthy. However, in Cambodia, only the animals and prisoners are
given the brown, unshelled rice.
The Cambodians eat only the white, polished rice. Unfortunately, the
brown shell is what gives the rice its nutrients.
It is not uncommon for many babies and children in Cambodia
to become stunted in their growth due to micronutrient deficiencies (which
basically means very little vitamins and minerals are in their diet). Stunting means their bodies are not able
to grow in height to reach their full potential due to a lack of vitamins and
minerals. Rice is the main staple
for all their meals. Once the
mother stops breast feeding, foods high in calcium and iron such as cheese and
milk along with vegetables high in vitamins are commonly absent from the diet
due to poverty, culture, and a lack of education. Malnutrition remains a serious problem for Cambodian children
specifically Vitamin A and iron deficiencies.
Baby food must be made fresh daily because most mothers don't have refrigeration. |
When Micah Reece and Kyler were all babies, I decided to
make my own baby food. I could easily buy jars of baby food at the store, but
decided I would make baby food for them from fresh vegetables and fruits. I didn't realize how fortunate I was because when
I was tired of making my own baby food I could just supplement it with store
bought baby food. Little did I know, that God would use that experience in
my life again some day.
This month, we held an afternoon workshop for all our
mother’s in the program at Mother’s Heart on how to add more nutrients to the
BorBor which makes it healthier for the baby than just rice alone. Mother’s Heart staff taught the
women how to chop up locally grown cooked vegetables like carrots or green
leafy vegetables which adds vitamins like Vitamin A, B, and K. We also taught them how to chop up cooked
chicken or pork to add protein to the BorBor. Once the chopped and minced
ingredients are added to the rice porridge, it then becomes a nutritionally
dense baby food. To many people, these concepts may seem
very basic and common knowledge. However, in Cambodia, these concepts are
foreign and access to information like nutritionally healthy baby foods remains
a barrier to most women. Don’t
forget that few homes have any type of refrigeration, so most of these foods
have to be made daily.
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