By Peter Rohloff | Medical Director
Dear friends,
Thanks to your generosity we had an extremely successful fundraising drive for the Bocacosta nutrition project in March and April, raising many thousands more than our goal. As a result, this project is on secure footing for a good while to come!
There are several exciting updates on the project.
First, we recently contracted with a distributor in Guatemala City to provide us with "Chispitas"--or "Sprinkles" as they are known in the United States and Canada. Sprinkles are a relatively new micronutrient preparation which provides high amounts of iron, zinc, and vitamin C - elements which combat diarrhea, respiratory infections, and anemia. Unlike the unpleasant-tasting iron supplements which we have previously been using, Sprinkles are a powdered preparation which can easily be mixed into the child's food. We plan to begin using Sprinkles in this project within the next month!
Secondly, our biosand water filter project, in collaboration with Engineers without Borders and the Rotary Club, has now installed water filters in all homes in the community! Everyone is quite excited about this development, which we regared as one of the most sustainable ways to start working toward prevention of childhood disease and malnutrition.
Final, we can confidently report that the project is working! From the beginning of our first work on nutrition in the communit in November 2008 until now, the rate of of malnutrition in children under 3 years of age has declined from 70% to 35%!
As we move into the summer months, we ask that you keep our work in mind. This community is just one of many in the region, and we would like to expand the work--something that we can do only with your support. We ask that you consider continuing to support this project, either through a one-time gift or by registering to make a small regular monthly donation.
Even if you cannot support this project financially at this time, we ask that you support us in other important ways, such as forwarding project information to friends and family, posting links to the project on Facebook or your personal website, etc.
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.
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By Peter Rohloff | Medical Director
By Peter Rohloff | Medical Director
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