Four-year-old Julliane lives with her parents and siblings in a small house. Her father works as a construction worker and a fisherman, struggling to provide for the family. As a result, Julliane is suffering from moderately acute malnutrition. She is much lighter and shorter than other kids her age.
One out of five children under the age of 5-years in International Care Ministries (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 the additional food to regain normal weight, and achieve optimum physical and mental development. After identifying a child being 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 Julliane will be able to gain weight and finish her studies someday,” said Julliane’s mother.
