A brand-new aid post aimed at enhancing maternal health care and treatment of children was commissioned recently in Sarkim, Wosera-Gawi in East Sepik province. The aid post is part of work implemented under Save the Children’s Safe Children Healthy Mothers (SCHM) nutrition project in partnership with the East Sepik Provincial Health Authority (PHA) and Sarkim community members. This initiative is set to have a profound and positive impact on the health and nutrition of the community, which consists of approximately 1,300 people who previously had to walk two and a half hours to access medical services at Wombisa or Kaukia Health Facility. Sarkim Ward Councilor, Mr. Philip Kinbange, explained that some frequent issues faced included lack of nutrition and stunting amongst children. He said it has been hard for mothers to access health services because of the distance they had to walk, so they decided that they needed a health service right at their doorstep. “We attended two trainings by Save the Children and were asked to identify common issues in the community, which was a lack of nutrition and stunting.” “The mothers don’t get proper medical support because of how far they must walk.” Under the SCHM project, Kinbange, women and youth leaders from Sarkim formed a Community Development Committee (CDC) and were tasked to implement nutrition-sensitive projects within their communities to promote healthy practices by identifying an issue and coming up with a solution. The Sarkim CDC then attended training to improve their knowledge of appropriate nutrition practices, identify health and nutrition issues as well as solutions and finally prioritize, plan, and implement one project and they decided they wanted to build an aid post. Meanwhile, Wosera-Gawi District Health Manager, Stanley Masi acknowledged the work by Save the Children to support primary healthcare services in communities. He said a priority of the East Sepik PHA is to build and maintain the 200 aid posts within the province which now includes Sarkim aid post. In addition to this, SCHM Project Manager, Ronny Inaha, also expressed enthusiasm about the initiative, stating that the commissioning of this aid post is a testament to their commitment to improve the lives of the most vulnerable community. He said the SCHM project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). It aims to reduce stunting among children ages 0-5 years, reduce family violence and promote healthy practices in the communities. Furthermore, some key benefits of the aid post include: • Reduced Mortality Rates: Timely access to basic maternal and child healthcare services will lead to a significant reduction in maternal and child mortality rates. • Improved Nutrition practices: Through the nutrition project, the community are receiving education and support to ensure better dietary practices for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children under 5, which is important for the physical and cognitive development of children and the overall well-being of caregivers. • Enhanced Quality of Life: Local villagers can look forward to an improved quality of life, and the burden of travelling long distances for healthcare is reduced.