Hunger is one of the common stressors in a child’s life. I work in pre-kindergarten, and several of our students only get meals they receive at school. We had a student to say she was ready for breakfast because she did not have anything to eat at home. As educated people, we know that no child can learn when their basic necessities are not met. It is very difficult to retain information and learn on an empty stomach.
During the summer, our school nutrition director serves a summer feeding program at the local parks, churches, and our schools so that our children will be fed through the summer months. Or local churches are sending backpacks filled with food in the afternoon so that some of the needy families will have can goods that can be prepared for dinner.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, is still a nation in crisis. From years of conflict and neglect, the nation is still struggling with widespread poverty, food insecurity, uneven economic development, and regional instability. The country experiences routine outbreaks of malnutrition that threatened thousands of lives. The Action Against Hunger partnership with the Congolese Ministry of Health, and health authorities treated 35,000 cases of severe malnutrition across the Democratic Republic of Congo (ONE, 2011). Malnutrition is a leading killer of children worldwide.
In outpatient centers that are managed by the Congolese Ministry of Health and integrated into the local health system, nurses are trained and equipped by Action Against Hunger to treat and monitor malnourished children during weekly visits. Children whose condition has deteriorated to such an extent to need hospitalization receive intense care in therapeutic stabilization centers, which are set up in local and regional hospitals. After the children have recovered, they are admitted to the outpatient nutrition program for continued treatment until targeted weight is reached. Majority of them return to full health within six weeks.
Now because of the national nutrition protocol and specially- formulated Ready-to-Use (RUFs) like Plumpy’nut, malnourished children can visit the outpatient centers once a week to get a medical check-up, be weighed and measured, and receive therapeutic RUFs to consume at home.
REFERENCES:
ONE. (2011). Fighting deadly malnutrition in D.R. Congo. Retrieved March 21, 2011 from http://www.one.org/blog/2011/01/04/fighting-deadly-malnutrition-in-d-r-congo/
Carol, it is no secret that the mere mention of the word "malnutrition" creates a churning in my gut of the memories of days spent coaxing, begging, trying desparately to get my son to eat just one bite of food while watching his little eyes sink into his round little head due to lost weight (from Failure to Thrive). Of course, it was never the magnitude that Congo children experience. Nevertheless, no child should be without food ever. I'm so glad to know that relief programs like Action Against Hunger are making a positive impact on alleviating this unfortunate problem for children in need.
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