Ren-Ren is a 13-month-old who lives with his parents and four other siblings live in a small house in the Philippines. The family daily income is not sufficient to meet the needs of the family, not to mention being able to cook nutritious meals for the children. As a result, Ren-Ren weighs much lighter than kids his age.
One out of every five children under 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.
Ren-Ren was enrolled in ICM’s Home-Based Feeding program on October 19. Now, Ren-Ren needs help to fund this $184 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 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.
Rennlis mother says, “I really hope that he will be able to finish his studies!”