Love requires action.
Early in 2013 Hope for the Island started feeding severely malnourished children a healthy meal per day. We anticipated success and the results have been incredible. We have always fed children healthy meals on our weekly outreaches because many kids are under nourished. However, for the severely malnourished we needed to step it up and fast.
With no intervention, many of these children die each year. The need for this outreach became clear during the follow up visits with the pregnant women who are part of our Prenatal Care program. When visiting these villages, we started hearing stories of kids who are neglected and eventually die. As we sought out more information, we were led to homes where we encountered these precious children in such horrific conditions.
There was no time to be frustrated, angry or cast blame, rather pray how the Lord would have us help these children live. We didn’t have a set budget or a lot of funds to work with but we started with what we had. We minister to 2 children for each of the four municipalities where we do weekly outreaches. The cost is approximately 770 pesos, which is about $20 per month per child due to the fact that we supplement with a donated dried healthy soup mix from Canada. Beyond the food, we are also blessing them with clothing and supplies as donations come in. We have the opportunity to encourage the parents to learn through this process, how to better care for their children’s’ needs.
Before we stop providing for the needs of a child, we make sure they are healthy and the parents are more equipped to care for and feed their children. One basic but effective way we can give help is to do some simple gardening to grow healthy veggies.
The children we help is small in comparison to the large number of malnourished kids we see on this island. We do what we can. It is a step of faith. Based on past experience with the Lord, we have done what we can and God takes care of the rest. We knew something had to be done and fast for the children we saw suffering.
Regular visits are done to check on the children, provide food, counsel and prayer. We have access to check monitoring records from the local health center. During a recent six month follow evaluation of our efforts here is some of what we were witness to.
Laluh is a 5 yr. old girl who was born with permanently flexed arms and legs and is severely malnourished. Her parents went to work in Manila and left Laluh with her great grandmother. Three years later, what was to be a temporary situation, has left this elderly lady as the primary caregiver. She has heard nothing from the parents.
This poor child cannot do anything by herself. The effort required to care for a handicapped child is difficult for an elderly woman who struggles to care for herself. We are praying that we can get a donated wheelchair for Laluh. We did witness an incredible improvement in her health and emotional well being.
Eliza is a 3 yr. old girl who was abandoned. A couple with menial work that struggle to survive adopted her. When they began to care for her, she was already very malnourished. After giving birth to their own child, it became even more challenging. Her mother went to Manila to work and the father does construction work wherever he can.
It is another situation where the elderly grandmother is taking care of the 2 children. As well as being malnourished, Eliza has other special needs.
We are pleased to see Eliza gain weight. She started out at as a 2.29 kg. two year old and is now a healthier 5.3 kg. She is more active, energized and playful. During our visit she even came along with us to visit another recipient Mariel who happens to live close by.
Mariel is just a few months younger than Eliza and was severely malnourished as well. Mariel is 2 ½ years old and lives with her parents. Her beginning weight was 2.3 kg. She is now up to 7.6 kg. and is well on her way to recovery. Mariel is the youngest child of a vendor and a construction worker. They can barely make ends meet and can no longer provide for their youngest child’s need. This is common in a place where birth control is seen as a sin and children keep being born without the ability to care for them.
Anna Marie and Crystal are sisters. They are the 9th and 10th in a family of ten children. Their father fishes close to their home and their mother is a housewife. She helps by gathering shells during low tide. Initially we accepted Ana Carmela into the program but soon added Crystal. We were not seeing much progress with
Ana Carmella and soon learned that the family was sharing the food intended for Ana Carmela with Crystal. We knew she also desperately needed to be included. Crystal is 4 ½ years old and weighs 11.2 kg. Ana Carmela started at 7.8 kg and now she is 8.2 kg at 2 ½ years. We are praying for progress with an increase of food provided to cover both sisters.
Glydel is two years and one of three children. In February she weighed 8 kg. Her mother is a utility worker earning a thousand pesos a month, which is $25.00. Her father has no work. With the help of vitamins that stimulate her appetite she is now eating and enjoying her food. She now weighs just under 11 kg. Her energy level is up and she is not getting sick as often. Thank God!
We praise God that for the first time in her life Rhona is no longer called a malnourished kid!! She has made incredible progress and this will be our last month of supplying food. Together with the rural health workers, we are teaching her adoptive parents to maintain this care even when the supplies we are giving come to an end.
We thank God for the lives of the supporters who financially make this program possible. The success is dependent on the cooperation of the local health unit along with the willingness of the parents to do their part. This is especially important for the child’s health going forward to the time when they will no longer be in our program. Hope staff, Let rejoiced and wept when she carried Rhona in her arms. At least one child is now out of danger and heading towards a normal life, but she still needs prayer. Victories like this are a huge blessing. One child and one victory at a time. Lord let there be more!
Jeffrey and Hannah are two children who are still in dire need of help. Their parents have not been cooperating with the health workers or us. Although there are exceptions, most malnourished children find themselves in critical conditions because of neglect on the part of the parents. It breaks our heart that many children are left to fend for themselves. In the case of these two children, even when food and supplies are given, we find that they are not used when we do a follow up visit. Over and over, we firmly encourage the parents to do their part and even teach them recipes that kids like. As hard and as frustrating as it is to understand, no effort is made. These are situations where we pray Social Welfare does their part to step in before another child is added to the list of fatalities.
Jorem is our newest addition to the program. He is severely malnourished and weighs only 8 kg at 5 yrs. old! It is absolutely shocking and heartbreaking. He has other complications due to neglect. Although he desires to eat, he easily throws up. He is very weak and has no resistance to disease. His parents are both hard working. His mother never fails to find ways to provide for him. His father accepts all kinds of work just to provide for the family needs. When we met Jorem, compassion for this poor child filled our heart. We pray for a miracle for this child that is so precious to the Lord!
Nadine turned two in July of this year. She has not been healthy since birth and is cared for by her grandfather. Her mother is 24 years old and is not psychologically stable. In August she was categorized as severely malnourished by the rural health unit. She should weigh 14 kg. and is only 9.8 kg. There are small boils and rashes on Nadine’s skin.
