Four-year-old Giselle loves playing a traditional Filipino game called “hit the can.” She lives with her grandparents in a bamboo house in the Philippines. They have no electricity and rely on a kerosene lamp for light. The family lives near rice fields, as Giselle’s grandfather is a farmer. Unfortunately, he does not make enough money to care for more than the family’s basic needs.
Giselle is currently malnourished. She began $184 malnutrition treatment on October 18, 2016.
Giselle 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 my child will grow up healthy and will finish her studies,” shares Giselle’s grandmother.