Physical Health Nigeria Project #21061

Save the Life of a Malnourished Child

by Edesia, Inc.

Project Report | Nov 17, 2016
Thank you for your support

By Heidi Reed | Project Leader

Women and children waiting for Plumpy'Nut

Thank you to everyone who gave to this project. With your help we were able to raise over $1,900, which is enough to fully treat 38 children with severe acute malnutrition with Plumpy'Nut, the lifesaving ready-to-use therapeutic food we make in our nonprofit factory in Rhode Island. Since this project has seen minimal activity over the past year, we are deactivating it so that we can focus our energies on other creative fundraising initiatives.

Please know that although we did not achieve our fundraising goal with this project, your personal attention to this project helped raise the important awareness that malnutrition is a crisis that doesn't just affect countries in West Africa, but every one on the planet. A happy, healthy world depends on happy, healthy children and we are grateful for your donations, which spoke volumes about how much you care about creating a better world for all of the world's children.

If you'd like to keep connected and up to date with Edesia, please visit our website.

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Aug 22, 2016
Plumpy'Nut for Nigeria

By Heidi Reed | Creative Services Manager

A women attends a health education session

Your generous donations to "Save the Life of a Malnourished Child" project make our work all the more possible – so that we can continue to make our “miracles in a packet” to bring health and hope to those living through the most dire situations worldwide.

In our recent staff meeting, it was announced that Edesia is making and shipping as many as 35,000 boxes of Plumpy’Nut to Nigeria this month – that incredible amount is enough to help 35,000 severely malnourished children recover their health and vitality in this large West African country. That’s information I knew you, as someone who has been helping us reach malnourished children, would be eager to know.

Why so many boxes of Plumpy'Nut for Nigeria? The Boko Haram conflict in northeast Nigeria has caused extreme suffering and triggered a severe malnutrition crisis for millions, in a country with a population of 173 million. Many have been displaced by this conflict and access to nutritious food is scarce. The Plumpy'Nut we make may not reach every child in need in Nigeria, but it will do a world of good for thousands – and bring much-needed hope to worried mothers, who aren't able to tackle this challenge alone.

“Even before I came to the health center, I praised what they were doing. And now for what I’m receiving, I am grateful,” says Naya, a mother whose child is being treated for malnutrition.

At Edesia's new factory, glass viewing windows were created between the offices and the production floor. We often wave to each other through the glass throughout the day, as you can see Godfried doing in the photo. He is surrounded by the empty boxes that will soon be filled with the miraculous food that will be on its way to bring hope and health to Nigeria.

So as we wave goodbye to you until our next report, we wanted to thank you again for partnering with Edesia to strengthen or mission and to help create a well-nourished world. We are so grateful for your continued involvement with this important and life-changing project.

*names have been changed

Edesia employee, Godfried

Links:

Visit our website

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May 25, 2016
Supporting Children's Lives in the Wake of El Nino

By Karen Cooper | Chief Development Officer

Doing what she can for her little one

Your generous support has helped us get ready-to-use foods to Ethiopian mothers and children facing the worst drought in 50 years. Edesia and our partners have been pre-positioning stockpiles of our life-saving, nutritious products in advance of the potential famine so they are more easily accessible and can get to children in need as soon as possible. This time, unlike in 1984, when drought triggered famine and mass migration, people are able to receive relief and nutrition assistance sooner at health centers.

Recently a young mother, Marianna, was able to receive Plumpy'Nut for her two-year-old daughter, Tamina, at a community health post in rural Ethiopia. Tamina had been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. Marianna declared that without Plumpy'Nut she would have had absolutely nothing left to give.

“We lost everything. We haven’t harvested any crops for over two years – nothing. While we wait for the rain to return... we are living hand to mouth. Gone are the days that we harvested maize, wheat, sorghum. Last year nothing grew.” she told the staff.

In the wake of the most severe El Nino to strike the region in decades, mothers are left desperate. The effects of this crisis are expected to linger into 2017 and Edesia continues to ship orders of our ready-to-use foods (Plumpy’Nut and Plumpy’Sup) to the most impacted regions in Ethiopia.

Thank you for joining the fight against child malnutrition for children in crisis. Together we are saving lives and making the world a better place for children.

PS. Visit our updated website and see our new video on our Founder's recent trip to West Africa.

Links:

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