Eliminate Malnutrition for 2,800 Honduran Children

Dear Generous Friend,

First, we are elated with the success of this campaign. We are inspired by your generosity and welcome you to a team of people committed to working to eliminate inequity that arises from poverty and injustice. Your donation to our nutrition program is making children healthier and giving them the opportunity to realize their potential in life. By way of introduction, we’re Paul and Laura, the General Directors of Shoulder to Shoulder. We live in Honduras and love every minute of our lives and our work with this incredible organization. Please contact us directly. We will be honored to respond.

“Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  -- Anne Frank

The people we serve are poor. The under nutrition they suffer is not because they take most of their meals at a fast food joint. They eat what they can grow – beans and corn.  In the best of times there is little variety and a substandard level of nutrition. If the harvest fails, well, you might be able to guess at the result. 

Meet Christian. He’s two. A few days ago, we were delivering water filters to poor families. Nutrition is a serious problem as is clean water. Christian is part of the nutrition program. What an incredible kid! He was engaged with us the whole time we were there, smiling, posing for the camera, and just plain showing off. The family was drying out a fresh harvest of beans, and Christian’s mother had all she could do to keep him out of the beans.

I’ve seen children who are undernourished. They maintain a vacant expression. They remain unengaged. It seems unreal to me, and it usually brings tears to my eyes. Give me a kid that thrashes around in the family’s bean harvest over one that stares absently at a wall any day. That’s what the nutrition program accomplishes. Christian, we’re looking forward to your growing up and engaging this incredible world.

Data and Results from July 2016 - August 2017

We have completed a full cycle of distribution, but the complete data are not yet available. Another report will be generated and sent out in September. There are presently 2,944 children enrolled in the nutrition program.

• Nutrition indicators show improvements in weight for age (underweight) and weight for height/length (wasting) for both males and females. 
• The average height/length for age (stunting) does not show a clear trend among program participants, although among those who were stunted at baseline there is almost a 25% decrease in stunting by 9 months.  This group also showed large decreases in anemia (from 67.6% at baseline to 58.1% at 6 months).
• In November 2016, hemoglobin samples were taken for a group of randomly selected children under the age of 5.  The final measure of hemoglobin levels was completed in June 2017.
• Among program participants anemia decreased from 51.2% at baseline to 39.7% after 6 months.  This change is more prominent among girls (17% decrease).

Peace,

Paul and Laura

Links:

• Shoulder to Shoulder Nutrition Page
• Mathile Institute, Our Partner Organization
• Study Poster on Benefits of Micronutrient Supplement

• August 2017 Nutrition Report (DOCX)