We had a conference today about malnutrition. It was really interesting. I would have liked to hear more, but we ended an hour early because there was a soccer game. In reality, everyone planned to stay for the whole conference, but one of the speakers was Honduran and understood that normally the world stops if there is a fútbol game, so he made sure it ended early.
The presenters are currently working with the MAMA Project to serve the people in more remote areas of Honduras. They are from the US (Pennsylvania) but are here to educate people about malnutrition. Malnutrition is the biggest killer of kids. Of those who die from malnutrition, only 17% have severe malnutrition - like what you see on the tv. The other 83% who die have more moderate malnutrtion, like the children we serve at the Breakfast Program.
We learned fast easy ways to measure if the kids are growing as they should. We learned how to tell if someone is anemic. We learned that eggs have gotten a bad rap and are actually the best thing that people who don't have a well rounded diet can eat. Pregnant or nursing women should eat THREE eggs per day if they don't have an otherwise balanced diet! That was shocking to hear. I talked to the doctor afterward and she said that in reality eggs are not as bad as people think.
The MAMA Project people are doing lots of great things. One thing they do is provide to the people they serve a special vitamin supplement powder that you add to any food. It could go into any meal we serve at the Breakfast Program and fortify everything we serve. We have such a hard time getting vitamins here, it would be a huge blessing to use this supplement. We have been out of vitamins for the older kids since June. All of the kids are taking vitamins for children 24-59 months old.
When I work with Lorenzo I know that part of his problem is malnutrition. I learned today that some parts of malnutrition are reversible. But in order to reverse malnutrition the children need to have extra nutrition to compensate for what they didn't get in the past.
I do feel good knowing that overall we serve fairly healthy meals. But we are not making up for any lack of nutrition. We simply don't have the resources to overcompensate. The conference leaders suggested that we weigh and measure every child to chart their growth. I would really like to do that. I also talked to Chayito about the kids who show up irregularly. I can see very clearly that they are not receiving the nutrients they need. Chayito said we need to go to the parents homes and tell the parents to send the kids every day. It's a really good idea, but I can't do it alone because of the dangerous neighborhoods.
In the end I felt happy that we are able to serve so many kids, but frustrated that we aren't able to serve them better. From now on, if people ask what we need I am going to tell them that we need this vitamin supplement. We haven't been able to find the chewable vitamins in over a year and it doesn't make sense to bring them from the US if we could find them. They aren't as concentrated as this powder.
After the conference everyone gathered around a small tv at the church and cheered on Honduras. They won! The US just beat Jamaica too. Sportscasters commented about how calm the North American crowd was after their big win as they put their arms around each other, swayed back and forth, and sang "Nah nah nah nah, Nah nah nah nah, Hey hey hey, Good bye." North Americans don't go as nuts if they win as Hondurans do. If Panama and Mexico tie tonight, then Honduras will go to the World Cup. The US is already qualified.
Marlin was finally taken into the delivery room today. We haven't heard that she has had the baby yet! We are still praying for health for Marlin and her baby.
