Cedrick is a four-year-old boy living in the Philippines with his parents and four siblings. Cedrick loves to sing and dance with other children from his school, and his favorite sport is basketball. Cedrick’s father is a rickshaw driver. His family lives in a small a house made of bamboo, and they share a water well with their neighbors.
Cedrick has been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition by our medical partner, International Care Ministries (ICM). One out of five children under five in ICM communities is either severely or moderately acutely malnourished. Worldwide, poor nutrition is associated with nearly half of all deaths in young children. In remote communities and urban slums of the Philippines, the lack of clean water and unclean environments add risk to potentially fatal childhood diseases.
Fortunately, Cedrick began $268 malnutrition treatment on October 19, 2016.
ICM’s Home-Based Feeding program provides nutrient-enriched food packs to ensure malnourished children get additional food to regain normal weight and achieve optimum physical and mental development. After identifying a child as malnourished, staff and community volunteers make weekly visits to monitor this child’s progress. To help sustain the health of the child, ICM’s professional staff educate the mother, guardian or other family members about proper nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and organic vegetable gardening. Now, Cedrick’s family needs help to fund this treatment.
“I hope that Cedrick will recover from malnutrition, and that he’ll become energetic,” shares Cedrick’s mother. “I also pray that my son will grow up healthy and strong.”
