Sustainability

Every child suffering from malnutrition has a story. Each story begins with a healthy child and weaves it’s way through differing circumstances, with the end result being a life threatened and a family without hope often living in a community ill equipped for long term support. What are their options? Where do they turn?

Let me introduce you to Serving His Children. They are changing these stories by assisting the government in providing life-saving medical intervention, helping communities improve health habits and food production and leaving behind sustainable means of continued implementation.  Ending malnutrition requires long term sustainable change. The goal of Serving His Children is not to change communities, but to enable those whose lives are most affected to discover ways to use their own abilities and resources to make the changes themselves.

Since 2011 Serving His Children has provided outpatient programs for over 1,500 families where food & medical resources were brought to a rural health center and education provided for those suffering from malnutrition but able to recover at home with support. The SHC field team worked with local staff at the health center and local families to prevent malnutrition at a community level.

In 2016 the SHC field team implemented community development programs to reduce malnutrition in 9 rural communities establishing local health teams to support & educate families, sustainable agriculture initiatives and setting up model home programs to inspire improved nutrition, hygiene and family health practices.

What is happening in 2017? The team will be deploying into the Mayuge District, bordering Lake Victoria in the southern part of Uganda.  This area was chosen because of the high rate of severe acute malnutrition and the strong desire from community leaders to be a part of improving health and nutrition. Serving His Children will be working in partnership with the Uganda Ministry of Health and the staff of the Kigandalo Health Center IV to establish a nutrition center for Inpatient Therapeutic Care (ITC) which will be open in their facility in May of 2017. In June I will be heading to Serving His Children once again. They have some big things in the works, as this is only the beginning. While I'm there I will be writing all about their journey to help break the cycle of malnutrition in Mayuge. I will be gone June 15-July 2nd. 

Your partnership allows me to go and write about a new chapter at Serving His Children and bring you the stories of children and their families.

https://www.gofundme.com/chelseainmasese

-Chelsea