It was a good time for no less than 100 mothers in Makoko, a riverine community in Lagos, last week when a non-governmental organisation, AugustSecrets, surprised them with different types of foodstuff.
Speaking at the event, the NGO’s founder, Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo, said mothers at the grassroots should be encouraged to make homemade meals for their babies from locally available food items, such as beans, grains and fish.
She said this would lead to better nutrition for the children and “Augustsecrets makes this range of food affordable”.
A statement by the organiser reads: “AugustSecrets is a growing baby and toddler food solutions company with the goal of helping Nigerian mothers to feed their children healthier food options, rather than junk foods. It provides recipes online and runs a homemade food range of paps, locally-made cereals from everyday home-grown foodstuffs like vegetables, fruits, and grains. Its major strength is busy mothers with fussy eaters and children who are malnourished due to poverty and displacement. Augustsecrets reaches more than 50,000 young mothers all over the world on social media with its recipes and cooking tips.
“The AugustSecrets community “Give back” project is one of the activities leading to the official launch of the “AugustSecrets Sample Meal plan book that will be unveiled soon, the aim is to sensitise women at the grassroots the importance of healthier complimentary foods for their babies and toddlers. The workshop kicked off in the riverine area of Makoko community where over 100 rural women were educated and encouraged to serve more varieties to their children like proteins and fibre-rich locally available foods and given free Augustsecrets guinea corn and maize mix.
“The educative give back workshop will spread to other parts of Lagos before the official launch of the AugustSecrets Sample Meal Plan book in a bid to sensitise more mothers.”