Lifesaving Plumpy'Nut for Children in the Sahel

Just yesterday our Shipping and Logistics Manager, Andrew Kamara (pictured at right above), woke up at 4 a.m. and hit the road from his home in eastern Connecticut, leaving before his wife and three young children were even awake yet.

He made the three and half hour drive to Port Elizabeth in New Jersey, because he wanted to make sure everything went smoothly with a shipment of about 34,020 cartons of lifesaving Plumpy'Sup (produced and packaged in our Rhode Island factory) that will soon be on their way to Cameroon (one of several countries in the Sahel region of Africa) in a giant cargo ship. 

Inside the 34,020 cartons of Plumpy'Sup there are over five million portable foil packets, enough to help about 85,000 severely malnourished children under the age of five recover their health and build up their immune systems to make them even more resilient against future shocks. This "miracle" food – a squeezable fortified peanut paste – is desperately needed in refugee camps for Nigerians who fled the Boko Haram insurgency.  

Plumpy'Sup is similar to Plumpy'Nut. It has the same number of calories (500) and similar mix of vitamins and minerals but it is made with soy flour instead of nonfat dry milk powder. This difference gives it the classification of a Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF). It can be given to children in emergencies with any form of acute malnutrition, with or without a doctor's diagnosis, unlike Plumpy'Nut, which is only given out after a doctor has confirmed the diagnosis of severe acute malnutrition. This is why Plumpy'Sup is often used in emergency situations, such as the Haiti earthquake or the refugee crisis in Cameroon. 

There are many steps that go into every shipment. With this report we wanted to give you a peak behind the scenes to show you how people like Andrew are going the extra mile every day to help end the suffering caused by malnutrition.

We thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to Edesia. You help make our organization stronger and, more importantly, you help raise awareness that malnourished children everywhere are most worthy of our focus and attention. 

At Edesia, our dynamic team, hailing from all corners of the world, work side-by-side to accomplish our shared goal of helping ease the suffering of malnourished children.

This is TJ, who grew up in The Gambia (the smallest country in The Sahel) before leaving his parents behind to pursue a better education in the United States. He has worked with us at Edesia for more than five years, always lifting us up with his dedication, positivity, and the utmost respect he shows to everyone, no matter where they are from. 

In this photo, taken just last month, TJ is about to enter onto the production floor area, wearing all of the necessary protective gear needed inside our clean room, where we make lifesaving Plumpy'Nut. In July, TJ helped us make 10,000 cases of Plumpy'Nut that is now on its way to Mali, one of the largest countries in The Sahel. Thanks to donors like you, we can produce Plumpy'Nut to send to countries in need.

In Mali and throughout the vast region of the Sahel, the annual lean season continues to place stress on families. It's the time of year when nearly 30 percent of the population struggles to have enough food to eat. That means far too many children will go to the clinic, withering away from lack of nutritious food. 

In the fishing village of Tako in Mali, a local mother, Fatima, shares her struggles.  “I’m really finding it hard to feed my family this year. We rely on fishing here, but the water is low and there are almost no fish left in the river. The granaries are empty,” she said. Her 10-month-old daughter, Binto, who was diagnosed as malnourished, is given a course of Plumpy’Nut, which will give her all the micronutrients she needs to make a full recovery.

Ten thousand cases is enough to completely turnaround the situation for as many as 10,000 children like Binto diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. In about seven weeks, the child who was once too weak to smile, will be bursting with playful giggles. That's the ultimate goal that motivates TJ and all of us at Edesia.

On behalf of the children who will regain their health because of the miracle of Plumpy'Nut, we thank you for your continued support of our efforts. We are so grateful that you are part of our team.

*names have been changed

Links:

• Edesia's website