Princess Jhoanna lives with her parents and five older siblings. Her father works as a construction worker and provides for the family. She loves to play with a wooden doll made by her father.
Princess Jhoanna has been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. She began $268 malnutrition treatment on October 18, 2016.
Princess Jhoanna is being treated by International Care Ministries (ICM), a Watsi medical partner. One out of five children under 5 in 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 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.
Her mother, Josie, shares, “I hope my daughter can recover from malnutrition and become healthy.”