Fundasaun Alola remains committed to its initial commitment to increase public awareness of the importance of maternal and infant health, promotion of breastfeeding and complementary feeding for children under 2 years of age through community-based projects.

Initially, the project, which was implemented in various village, was known as the Mother’s Support Group (MSG) which later became SHIO, a shortened form of ‘Suco Hadomi Inan ho Oan’ ( the Village Love Mothers and Child). The SHIO project is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health (MoH) specifically with health workers who run SISCa, the Integrated Community Health Service, to share information with the public about health.

Alola Foundation established SHIO project as part of the ten steps to successful breastfeeding, which is connected with the Baby Friendly Hospital initiative. With SHIO group, Alola want to bring people together with one important purpose, to be by the sides of friends and neighbors during their pregnancies to ensure safe and healthy outcomes for both mothers and babies.

“From the time I established Fundasaun Alola in 2001, it has always been one of my and the organization’s goals to work gradually towards having our work recognized by the government of Timor-Leste and for our services and grassroots approaches to delivery integrated into the government’s own programs”, Dra Kirsty Sword Gusmão, AO, Chairwoman’s statement on Alola Annual report 2016.

The SHIO members are trained to counsel women in breastfeeding. They also received training to promote the importance of colostrum, exclusive breastfeeding and how to prepare from 6 months to the age of 5. After training, they take responsibility for assisting a number of households in their communities offering ongoing support to families with babies and young children. They also provide counseling to women on exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

For more than 10 years, due to the efforts of the Alola’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) program, hundreds of community-based groups have been established in various villages through socialization program at the local level and conducting PPA (Participatory Program Analysis) training on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and basic safe motherhood for members. Through various activities that the SHIO group is involved in, whether organized by the Alola or local governments and other institutions, these assisted groups are forged to be more solid, more qualified and gain trust in the community so that they can finally stand as an independent.

The 2016 TLDHS study has shown significant improvement in the area of maternal and child health in which the number of mothers giving birth at a health facility has increased from 22% to 49% and number of deliveries assisted by health workers has also increased from 30 to 57%. In addition, the Infant mortality rate has been decreased from 45 to 30 per 1000 live births and the rate of malnourished children under 5 has also declined from 58% to 46%, and stunted children from 45% to 40%.