This is Shane, a 20-month-old girl with malnutrition. Shane lives with her parents and two siblings in a bamboo house. Shane’s father, Ronald, is a construction worker. Like other girls her age, Shane enjoys playing with her dolls and playing hide-and-seek.
One out of five children under the age of five in communities served by our medical partner, International Care Ministries (ICM), 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 increase risk for potentially fatal childhood diseases.
Fortunately, Shane began ICM’s malnutrition treatment program on October 17, 2016.
ICM runs a Home-Based Feeding program to provide nutrient-enriched food packs and ensure malnourished children get the right nutrients 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, Shane’s parents need help to fund this $184 treatment.
“I hope her weight becomes normal and that she won’t get sick,” says Shane’s mother. “I hope she will have good health soon.”
