Post Tagged with: "malnutrition"

The Call to Heal

The health care industry in the USA is one of the most lucrative, in-demand career fields one could enter; so much so that many doctors and nurses from the developing world leave their home countries seeking work in the US or other places where higher wages can be found.

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Reaping the Dust

There are some parts of Ethiopia right now that haven’t received more than a few sprinkles of rain in over two years. Since so many people live out in rural areas of the country and have to rely on seasonal rains to grow their own food- raising their own vegetables and livestock on small farms- that means the source of livelihood, nutrition, and sustenance for large numbers of people has vanished. Above, a small farmer sifts through the dust of the field he planted last year, but where nothing germinated. Can you imagine having to provide for your family with just a small farm not much bigger than your back yard? That’s hard enough, but take away the water source and it becomes impossible. Below, a woman in Fentale District scoops water from a shallow well. According to government figures, one in ten Ethiopians has been severely affected by the[…]

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From the front lines of the Food Crisis

Here is one mother’s testimony and plea for help from the front lines of the current food crisis in Ethiopia. According to the government, at least 400,000 children are suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition, a form of malnutrition that, if survived, will impact their growth and development and will likely determine both their physical and cognitive abilities as adolescents and adults.

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Where the Rain Won’t Fall

I’ve lived in Africa long enough to watch some kids grow up. I’ve seen a boy struggle with the effects of HIV through his formative years only to succumb to it at the age of twenty. But I’ve also seen an orphan rise to the top of his class, graduate university and go on to be the owner of a successful business. With so many of the children that I encounter here each day, I can’t help but wonder what will become of them in ten or twenty years. Emali, Kenya is divided by the Nairobi – Mombasa highway. It’s not only a physical boundary, but a geographic one as well. The south side of the road marks the boundary of the blistering, flat planes, home to the Maasai tribe, that receive little if any rain at all during the year. The north side marks the beginning of the hills[…]

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Unlocking Potential – Senegal

A seedling that doesn’t receive enough water and sunlight in it’s infancy cannot grow into a fruitful tree. In the same way, a child who doesn’t receive love and proper care cannot realize his full potential as an adult, should he be fortunate enough to survive into adulthood. ChildFund’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) Program in Senegal is working in immensely challenging conditions to empower parents and caregivers with the tools and knowledge they need to properly nurture their children at this crucial stage in life. This is last in a series of six videos from the same number of countries I shot and edited for ChildFund’s new iPad app which exploring the different facets and successes of the ECD program. Special thanks to ChildFund’s Christine Ennulat for the creative input here. Here’s some other fun shots from a stroll down the beach in Dakar:  

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Getting it Right the First Time – Honduras

What’s the one thing that parents can do to raise their children properly? I’m not yet a dad, but I’m at least aware there’s not simply one thing that parents can do to ensure their kids are on the right track. On the contrary, parenting is a holistic affair. ChildFund has a similar approach in its early childhood development programs in Honduras, which allow kids to get the start they need in life in order to realize their full potential. Working amidst the surrounding poverty, their integrated programs emphasize the need for proper nutrition, early stimulation, and love and attention at home from parents and caregivers. Crucial ingredients in the program are the door-to-door guide mothers who carry information and awareness to households, monitoring children’s nutritional and health status along the way. Guide mothers teach parents proper brain stimulation during crucial early years, and quickly identify developmental difficulties to keep[…]

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Wings to Fly

We often think of Africa as a continent of wide open savannahs and an endless expanse of acacia trees. We fail to remember the massive megalopolises of Kinshasa or Lagos and the seemingly endless expanse of slum dwellings that exist in the urban shadows. It’s true that more so than other regions of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is rural; about 65% of people live in rural areas. But needs exist in both cities and villages here. The above video documents two families participating in ChildFund’s Early Childhood Development Program in Kenya, known as ECD. Solomon’s family lives in rural Samburu County, a traditional village where the main source of livelihood is cattle rearing. Anabel’s family lives in the crowded Mukuru slums of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where poor hygiene and sanitation practices contribute to the spread of disease. In both areas, food security for families is a problem. The ECD[…]

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Focus on Early Childhood Development

I’m currently half-way through a series of videos highlighting ChildFund’s niche-core program, its Early Childhood Development program, known as ECD. It’s an assignment that, once completed, will have taken me to six different countries on four different continents. In a country where children battle with epidemics like malaria and malnutrition, ChildFund’s ECD program in India is not just allowing kids to survive, but also to thrive. By working with parents and caregivers to target children in the first five years of life, ChildFund transforms the communities in which children grow, allowing them to reach their maximum potential in life.

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Spicing Things Up

It’s good to be back at work in Uganda again. Of the all African countries I frequent, it seems to be the place where I spend most of my personal time, but where I actually work the least. For this assignment I traveled with Tracey Spicer, an Australian journalist and news anchor who was reporting on the work of ActionAid for the Daily Telegraph and other editorial and broadcast outlets. Spicer highlighted ActionAid‘s work on women’s rights and domestic violence in Eastern Uganda. She knows first-hand what it’s like to experience gender discrimination. Her firing in 2006 from Network Ten (via email) after returning from maternity leave garnered much attention in the media and started a nation-wide debate about gender discrimination in the workplace. Since then she has been bringing to light the stories of voiceless women who have faced hardship or abuse. Click on the article above to read[…]

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Saving Grace

Two weeks ago, Grace seemed like any other nine year old girl in northeastern Uganda’s Amuria District. She was attending school and helping her mother around the house. Suddenly she was unable to hold down food. The medicine her mother bought at the local clinic was of no help. Now Grace hasn’t eaten in over two weeks and weighs just 13 kilos (28 pounds). Sores on her lips and mouth make any ingestion of food far too painful to bear. Grace’s mother, Sarah Kembi (27), found out that her daughter was HIV positive only two years ago. Since that time Grace has been taking Septrin, a stabilizer drug that, while not an ARV, still reduces the chances of opportunistic infections. Sarah’s husband, Grace’s father, succumbed to AIDS around the same time Mrs. Kembi figured she had better get her daughter tested. Though Grace was likely healthy enough to forgo ARV[…]

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