One-year-old Xian loves to play with toy cars. He lives in a small wooden hut with his two older siblings and parents. They share electricity with their neighbors. His father, Guillermo, is a pedicab driver and a local safety enforcement officer.
Xian has been diagnosed with moderately acute malnutrition. Malnutrition threatens his growth and development and could even be fatal if not addressed. Fortunately, he will begin $184 malnutrition treatment on February 22.
Xian will be 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 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.
Xian’s mother says, “I’m positive that my son will recover from malnutrition soon.”