Bobby is a three-year-old boy from the Philippines. He loves to watch cartoon movies, and he enjoys playing with his siblings. His father works as a construction worker. Bobby has been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition.
One out of five children under 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 add risk to potentially fatal childhood diseases.
Fortunately, on October 19, Bobby began malnutrition treatment.
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 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.
Bobby’s parents pray that someday their son can finish his studies.