Carol Jean is a baby girl who lives in a small bamboo hut in a remote mountain community in the Philippines. Her family’s home has no access to water or electricity. Her mother is a housekeeper, and she is very busy.
Carol Jean has been diagnosed with moderately acute malnutrition. She has dry hair and a bloated stomach. Fortunately, she began $184 malnutrition treatment on October 18, 2016.
Carol Jean 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.
Carol’s mother shares, “I hope that she will recover from malnutrition and become a teacher.”