Lea is an eight-month-old girl from the Philippines. She lives in a hut made of bamboo and metal sheets. Lea's father, Danilo, earns money by transporting customers in a "trisikad," a bicycle with a sidecar. However, his income is not sufficient to provide for the family's needs. Consequently, Lea has been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. She began $268 malnutrition treatment on October 19. Lea is being treated by International Care Ministries (ICM), a Watsi medical partner. 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. 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. "I hope that Lea recovers from malnutrition and gets the vitamins she needs," says her mother. "I hope she grows up strong and healthy."

Tiffany is a three-year-old girl living in the Philippines with her parents and three siblings. Her family lives in a small house made of palm leaves in a coastal region of the country. Tiffany's father is a farmer. Tiffany loves playing with her doll. Tiffany is underweight for her age, and she has been diagnosed with moderately 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. 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. The total cost of the support and resources Tiffany needs is $184, and her family needs help. Following her treatment, Tiffany's nutrition will improve, and her risk of complications and fatality will significantly decrease.Tiffany's family hopes that she will become strong and healthy, and they pray that she will finish her schooling someday.

3-year-old Roobens was born with a cardiac condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, “which involves a hole between two chambers of the heart as well as a muscular blockage of one of the valves,” says our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA). “Blood flows through the hole in his heart without first passing through the lungs to get oxygen, leaving him sickly and short of breath. Because of the severity of this condition, there is a chance it may not be repairable, but the only way to determine this is by inserting a catheter into the chambers of his heart. Since this is not possible in Haiti, arrangements are being made to bring him to Dominican Republic to perform this extremely important test in the hopes that he can have heart surgery later in the year.” Roobens lives in a valley in central Haiti with his mother, father, and one older brother. His parents are rice farmers. He likes to help around the house and sing and dance. For $1,500, Roobens will be transported to the Dominican Republic and receive a procedure to diagnose his condition with certainty. “Following the catheterization procedure, Roobens's family will know with certainty whether his condition is operable or not,” HCA says. “If operable, plans will then be made to move forward with his surgery as soon as possible.” "Our family is all praying to God that the test will give us hope for the future,” his mother says.