The Philani Child Health and Nutrition Trust was established in 1997 to improve the health and nutritional needs of children and their caregivers through health education and capacity building interventions. The Philani Child Health and Nutrition Trust envision a South Africa where children can grow up healthily and well-nourished in order to fulfil their physical and mental potential; and where a mother's health is protected throughout the stages of pregnancy and early childhood phases.
One of the projects under the auspices of this Trust, and which the Discovery Fund supports, is the Mentor-a-Mother project located near Zithulele Hospital in the Eastern Cape, two hours away from Mthatha on the Wild Coast and situated in a very rural area. The Mentor-a-Mother project, which shows how the Trust and the Discovery Fund is making a difference in the community, recruits mothers who have raised their babies healthily to be part of the programme and train them to impart their maternal skills and knowledge on matters such as how to correctly mix formula milk to ensure their babies receive the necessary intake for healthy growth, and the importance of ensuring their babies are fully immunized and early childhood development.