Building Confidence Through Validation & Partnerships
Four Foundations of Confidence
Mary’s Cradle combines preliminary community validation, internationally recognized nutrition specifications, proposed implementation collaboration and academic engagement to support an evidence-informed model for maternal, adolescent and child nutrition.
Foundation 1 : Community Validation
Nangka Community Validation
Building Confidence Through Community Leadership
Mary’s Cradle conducted a five-day preliminary community validation in Nangka, Marikina City involving 65 participants—30 women and 35 children. Led with community participation, the validation assessed participant acceptance, willingness to participate and the practical delivery of fortified nutrition support within a community setting.
Why Nangka?
Nangka, Marikina City was selected because it reflects many of the characteristics found in communities Mary’s Cradle is designed to serve. As a lower-income urban barangay with active community leadership and families with young children, it provided a relevant community setting for preliminary assessment of participant acceptance, engagement and delivery considerations.
Community in Action
Nutrition Education
Community-based nutrition education activities introduced practical information related to maternal nutrition, child feeding and healthier household practices.
Fortified Nutrition Support
Participants sampled the fortified nutrition support while community facilitators observed acceptance, gathered feedback and answered questions.
Community Engagement
Local leaders and volunteers worked alongside participants to gather observations, support community engagement and capture lessons to inform future implementation.
Validation Results
The preliminary community validation demonstrated strong participant acceptance and willingness to participate and provided formative insights to inform implementation planning.
- 92% overall participant acceptance
- 96% would consume the fortified nutrition support again
- 95% expressed willingness to participate
- 94% would recommend the program to others
- No adverse reactions were reported within the 5-day observation period
These findings reflect participant feedback from a five-day preliminary community validation involving 65 participants and should not be interpreted as evidence of clinical efficacy.
What We Learned
The Nangka validation provided preliminary evidence of strong participant engagement and acceptance and generated practical insights to inform community-based delivery and future implementation. The lessons learned are being incorporated into implementation planning, community engagement and the program’s validation-before-scale approach.
- 97% participating women believed the fortified nutrition support could support maternal nutrition.
- 90% of participating women expressed willingness to continue participation.
Foundation 2 | International Nutrition Specifications
Mary’s Cradle’s proposed fortified nutrition intervention draws on internationally recognized nutritional specifications used in established nutrition programs.
The proposed formulation draws on nutritional specifications associated with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reference product and fortified-biscuit programs implemented internationally, including experience in Bangladesh. This provides an internationally relevant technical reference for the proposed nutrition intervention..
Foundation 3 | Community Collaboration
Angat Buhay Foundation
Angat Buhay Foundation has expressed formal intent to collaborate with MCHN on community engagement and local implementation.
As one of the Philippines' most trusted civil society organizations, Angat Buhay brings nationwide reach, PCNC accreditation, ISO 9001:2015 certification, and a strong commitment to transparency and accountability.
Its extensive experience working with local governments, volunteers, and community organizations aligns closely with MCHN's community-based implementation model.
Under the proposed collaboration, Angat Buhay’s network and community experience would support local ownership, effective program delivery and meaningful community participation.
(Image courtesy of Angat Buhay Foundation)
Foundation 4. Academic Implementation Learning
Ateneo de Naga University
Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU) has expressed formal intent to collaborate with MCHN on monitoring, evaluation, implementation learning and evidence generation. Under the proposed collaboration, ADNU would support rigorous program monitoring, continuous learning, evidence-informed decision-making and the generation of implementation knowledge to strengthen program quality, accountability and future scale.
(Image Courtesy of Ateneo de Naga University)