HOW NUTRITION TRAINING TRANSFORMED THE LIFE OF WINNIE TIROP OF CHEMASE
At just 23 years old, Winnie Tirop of Chemase Ward has already walked a journey that many mothers know too well but rarely speak about raising children under the shadow of malnutrition. For years, she watched her young siblings and neighborhood children struggle with poor feeding, frequent illness, and slow growth, not out of neglect, but out of limited knowledge and options.
Today, her story is changing and so is her community,thanks to nutrition empowerment programs under the Korge Arise Initiative spearheaded by Nandi County Deputy Governor Dr. Yulita Cheruiyot, alongside the county’s strengthened nutrition agenda.
Winnie recalls the difficult days when meals in her household were filling but not nourishing. “We ate what was available mostly starch and we thought that was enough,” she says. “Children were often weak and sickly. We did not understand food diversity or balanced diets.” Like many young women in rural households, she had never received structured nutrition education and believed good nutrition required expensive foods beyond their reach.
Her turning point came when she enrolled in a community nutrition training session organized through county-supported outreach programs linked to the broader food and nutrition strategy. There, she learned what she calls the “one, two change” simple but powerful lessons: first, how to combine locally available foods for a balanced plate; and second, how proper child feeding practices in the first 1,000 days determine long-term health. She learned about kitchen gardens, food groups, child meal frequency, and affordable protein sources such as eggs, milk, and legumes.
Armed with knowledge, Winnie started small. She helped her family establish a kitchen garden, diversified meals, and began educating other young mothers in Chemase village. Within months, she noticed visible improvements, children gained healthier weight, fell sick less often, and had more energy.
Her personal transformation mirrors a larger county movement.
This week, the County Government of Nandi launched the Food and Nutrition Policy (2026–2046) and signed a Phase II Memorandum of Understanding with Nutrition International, a milestone framework aimed at eradicating malnutrition and strengthening household food security. The new policy integrates health, agriculture, education, water, and social protection sectors to deliver long-term, community-level nutrition impact.
Phase I of the county’s partnership with Nutrition International already delivered measurable progress, cutting child stunting rates from 29.9% to 15.1% a result officials say proves that knowledge, coordination, and community outreach work.
Speaking during the launch, Governor Stephen Sang emphasized that nutrition is not just a health issue but an economic foundation. Deputy Governor Dr. Yulita Cheruiyot noted that community-centered initiatives especially those targeting young women are central to sustaining gains.
For Winnie, the policy is not just a government document, it is a lived reality.
“Nutrition changed how I see food, children, and the future,” she says. “We don’t need expensive meals, we need the right knowledge. Now I teach others what I learned.”
In Chemase, her neighbors now call her when they have questions about child feeding and meal planning. At 23, she has become an informal nutrition champion, proof that when policy meets people, transformation begins at the household level.