Meet Ashley, a three-year-old girl from the Philippines. She lives with her parents in a small house made of bamboo. She loves to play “balay-balay,” a game of “playing house.”
Ashley has moderate acute malnutrition, meaning she is two to three standard deviations below the median height and/or weight guidelines for children calculated by the World Health Organization. Compared to their healthy peers, malnourished children run greater risks of infection, delayed cognitive and physical development, and early mortality.
This is especially true of underserved communities in the Philippines, like the one where Ashley lives. A lack of clean water puts her at further risk for contracting potentially fatal childhood diseases—diseases that her compromised immune system will have trouble combatting.
Ashley’s parents do not have the means to seek treatment for their daughter. The family’s sole income comes from her father’s work as a motorcycle driver. But there is still hope for Ashley. For $184, we can fund her participation in our medical partner’s home-based malnutrition intervention program.
Beginning on February 20, this treatment plan will provide Ashley’s family with nutrient-enriched food packs to ensure she regains normal weight and reaches physical and mental development benchmarks. ICM’s staff and community volunteers will also make weekly visits to Ashley’s home to monitor her progress. These staff members will provide Ashley’s parents with lessons in nutrition, sanitation, and organic vegetable gardening.
“I hope my child will finish her studies and become a successful nurse someday,” shares Ashley’s parent. Let’s help make that hope a possibility for young Ashley.