Kvasiorkor is a condition caused by a lack of protein in the diet. And although it is a serious form of malnutrition, a child affected by it mistakenly resembles a well-nourished one. The untrained eye could misjudge swelling as a sign of obesity. That is why it is important to raise awareness in Slovakia, but above all in developing countries - about the types and consequences of malnutrition in children under the age of 5 (when all important brain functions are developing). The University of Trnava strives for this with its development project in Kenya as well. Educating the local Kenyan people makes it possible to find cases of malnutrition in the field and spread knowledge among the locals. Mothers are more willing to proceed to hospitalization and treatment of the child if the information is given to them directly by a person from the community. That is why the University of Trnava (TU) trained fifty community health workers as part of its two-year development project: "Social and health care for malnourished children under 5 years and their mothers in the Kwale region", financed by Slovak Aid resources - to fight malnutrition in their country.

Raise awareness of nutrition and malnutrition in the community Community health workers are respected by the management of the Kwala hospital, clients of nutrition centers (mothers of malnourished children) and the community itself, from which they came. They wanted to change the situation in their homes, so of their own volition they signed up for a two-month training course in health care for mother and child in the context of nutrition, organized by the University of Trnava. After his graduation and the start-up of nutrition centers in Kwale, Tiwi and Mkongani, they became the most important links in the development cooperation between the Slovak and Kenyan sides. Today, they are also in demand as family planning consultants and in the CCC (Comprehensive Care Clinic) of HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention centers.

These trained workers can recognize the two basic types of malnutrition and explain to mothers the necessary steps for the recovery of their child. Marasmus can be recognized by a significant loss of weight and muscle mass, sagging skin, protruding ribs (but a good appetite), on the other hand, kwashiorkor can be recognized (due to a lack of protein in the body) based on a weak appetite, significant apathy and swelling on the body of a small patient. According to regularly monitored and measured indicators (for example, height, weight and circumference of the upper left arm), community health workers can place the child in a specific program, provide the mother with a consultation and allocate adequate nutritional rations and vitamins.

Hospital cooperation in the management of malnutrition Technical assistant TU and pediatrician, MUDr. Ján Bodo, PhD., who in the past also worked on health projects in Kenya and South Sudan, prepared a lecture for the staff of the district hospital in Kwale and community health workers during his evaluation trip to TU in Kenya. In the beginning, he was interested in whether and how the cooperation between community health workers and nurses or doctors works - when a severely malnourished child appears in the nutrition center. Community workers mentioned that this does not always work effectively. Those present remembered a specific case from Kwale a year ago - when on Friday they correctly set up the treatment for a severely malnourished child with kwashiorkor, but on the weekend the child died due to insufficient care by the staff and kidney failure (which might not have happened).

Therefore, in mid-September, a lecture on the care of a hospitalized malnourished child and the management of malnutrition was more than welcome. At the same time Dr. Bodo appreciated the interest and participation of the nurses themselves in this lecture. The participants of the lecture thanked the TU staff team for the contribution and sustainability of the Slovak-Kenyan social and health project, which helped to reduce child mortality and the incidence of malnutrition in the Kwale region.