Reynald is 2-year-old and lives with his parents and six siblings in a small house made of scrap materials in the Philippines. His parents’ source of income is from a small sari-sari store and struggle to feed the family with their earnings. Without proper nutrition, Reynald is thin and weak, suffering from moderately acute malnutrition.
One out of five children under the age of five-years-old in communities of our medical partner International Care Ministries (ICM) are 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.