By Zach Brehmer | Director of Research
3,500 children in the communities of Ranquitte, Kenscoff, Leogane, Cavillion, and Coix-des-Bouquet are now protected from intestinal worms. It only took one month for all of these children to be reached with albendazole, a de-worming medication.
Many of these children had been struggling to stay in school because of the intense stomach cramps and chronic diarrhea that intestinal worms cause. One of the main reasons children miss school in Haiti is diarrhea caused by waterborne disease and intestinal worms. When children have diarrhea, their parents keep them home from school.
Innovations for Poverty Action released a study showing that school-based de-worming programs can generate an extra year of education for only $3.50 per student.
Albendazole has enabled Abraham, the oldest child in the picture below, and his two siblings to fight off intestinal worms and return to school. They live in Ranquitte, a modest town in Northern Haiti. The people in this town have been dealing with water and sanitations issues for a long time.
Nearly half of the children in Ranquitte had intestinal worms. Abraham had to stay home to help his parents watch his younger siblings because they had severe diarrhea caused by the intestinal worms. All three children were missing a significant amount of school.
Some friends of International Action, a group of nurses from Michigan, informed of us of these conditions. Brenda and her team of nurses were planning to visit Ranquitte in late September to provide the community with free access to healthcare. But they did not have any albendazole. International Action quickly provided the nurses with 1,000 albendazole pills.
900 children received doses in 2 days.
The benefits were seen and felt immediately. Children stopped having diarrhea and stomach aches. After four days, Abraham and his brother and sister were able to return to school. They have not missed a day of school since they received albendazole.
Many of the 3,500 Haitian children have a story like Abraham’s. This has been made possible by the albendazole that we have been able to provide them with your help.
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