Feed The Children

Adequate nutrition is a prerequisite for attaining good health, quality of life, and national productivity. Undernutrition has been and continues to be a serious public-health problem in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is placed in the bottom 25% of the Global Hunger Index ranking, indicating that the country is expected to face a huge risk in the context of food price-hike. To cope with the high prices of food, alongside reducing portion-sizes, 22% of families also reduced health expenditure, which is likely to have impacted on health.

The diets of the majority people in Bangladesh like many other developing countries are usually dominated by staple foods such as rice, wheat and in some cases maize. High costs made healthy foods like vegetables and fresh fruits unaffordable to Bangladesh’s large number of consumers. However these are mainstream calculations of nutrition and ignore the food intake of the poor people which includes micronutrient foods such as fruits, leafy green vegetables, fish, egg, milk etc.

The prevalence of underweight among under-five children in 1989-1990 was more than 65%. Although it came down to 47% in 2000, little change has been observed since then. The annual rate of reduction in underweight required to achieve the nutrition target of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 is 1.36 percentage points while the current rate is 1.27 percentage points per year. This low rate of reduction in the prevalence of underweight makes it unlikely for the country to achieve the nutrition target of MDG 1. However, even if we achieve the target, the prevalence of underweight will still be unacceptably high. Furthermore, 43% of under-five children are still stunted that accounts for more than 0.5 million children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Bangladesh. These children who are suffering from various forms and degrees of undernutrition are at a high risk of death or severe impairment of growth and development.

Hunger: Charity or Right

JAAGO is working towards breaking the cycle of poverty through education among thousands of underprivileged community children. Given the fact “Underprivileged”, these children and their family are unable to meet the challenge of their daily bread. Hence, the providing proper nutrition for their growth is an extreme luxury for them. As the statistics show that the price hike has an influence in the Bangladeshi food habit, it has an impact on JAAGO’s goal of feeding all the students belonging to all 11 schools across Bangladesh.

JAAGO works for the betterment in remote locations like Bandarban where the children come to school climbing 700ft hills. In areas like this food is the biggest motivation to bring the students to the school although most of us can’t even imagine the misery like them. Besides, the struggle of logistic challenges is real for of reaching out to these areas. Even after all these odds our students are provided with a weekly healthy meal with the support of donors and sponsors. At this point the kind support and donation from our supporters and well-wishers are the hopes of light to ensure the right of nutrition for the little beautiful souls. The two most constant donors of healthy meal for the students are “Thrive” and “Charity Right Bangladesh”. Among the 11 schools of JAAGO, Thrive provides weekly nutrition boost to Banani, Gaibandha and Dinajpur schools. On the other hand, Charity Right Bangladesh is supporting the JAAGO Rayer Bazar School. 

Spread love and laughter 

Often the well-wishers of JAAGO come to visit and share the warmth of their love with the students of JAAGO. In last few months among many of the donors the “Noor House” people spent a day with the students from Banani, Dhaka. They brought healthy snacks for all the students. Meanwhile, the service learning team from a very renowned school AISD, invited over the students at their campus. There they served a healthy meal for a day to the JAAGO students.

Thank You Note!

We would like to take the opportunity to thank you on behalf of JAAGO Foundation for your contribution in fighting the poverty and achieving the right of nutrition for thousands of children in Bangladesh. Your contribution means a lot to us. The financial support from your side would help us in fulfilling our mission of ensuring a healthy generation for a better world. With the funds donated by you and other people, we would be able to transform the lives of many children and their families.We believe your kindness is equipping the JAAGO students to break the cycle of poverty in the best possible way.

We are really grateful for your support. The support from generous people like you is the reason for our survival. Our success is majorly dependent on the support that you people provide us. It’s because of you that we are able to deliver our best to the community.

Thank you once again for making our mission a success. We will look forward for your support in future as well!

Nutritional challenges in countries like Bangladesh can begin from the moment of conception to birth. The cycle can continue for a longer period of time. Low birth weight, limited or no access to quality food and poor dietary practices has long-lasting consequences, such as diminished mental ability and learning capacity that may lead to poor school performance.

In Bangladesh, more than 9.5 million children are stunted, a symptom of malnutrition. Children suffering from stunting may never reach their full possible height nor their full cognitive potential. Rates of malnutrition in the country are among the worst in the world. This is a bigger issue for women in Bangladesh, more than 50% of women suffer from chronic energy deficiencies that hamper their ability to reach their full potential. Improving nutrition will have a critical impact on not only survival but physical and cognitive development and productivity. Good nutrition is comprised of satisfactory quality and the quantity of intake, which is a basic human right as well as essential input for economic development and progress. 

Helping Kids Thrive 

One of the greatest factors for malnutrition among children in Bangladesh is household food insecurity, this is why JAAGO implements the ‘Healthy Living’ program as it ensures that our students have access to at least one nutritious meal a day. JAAGO is delighted to partner with Thrive, an organisation that aims to provide healthy and nutritious meals to hungry children in the poorest parts of the world, to help feed the students at our schools. Thrive and JAAGO has worked together to determine the needs of our students are. Studies show that children in Bangladesh suffer from high rates of micronutrient deficiencies, specifically zinc, vitamin A and iron deficiencies. Therefore, Thrive has complied foods that will address these concerns such as Banana that contain potassium, manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, potassium, iron and biotin which has benefits for the heart, digestion, energy, bone strength, brain power and vision. Thrive provides food to 5 of our schools. Very recently, they have started operating in our Dinajpur and Gaibandha schools as well. Charity Rights also provides food to our kids once a week and we welcome more partners and donors who will help us feed our children! 

A Fun Day with Nutritious Food!

At JAAGO we believe in giving our children the most nutrient rich foods available in order to combat the rise in micronutrient deficiencies. Therefore, in the winter season when there is a surplus of vegetable crops we host a ‘Vegetable Festival’ teaching them how to cook with the vegetables and making khichuri, a Bangladeshi dish. The kids enjoy a fun day with dancing, singing and finish with enjoying the khichuri they made. This allows our kids to learn important life skills regarding food such as how to make healthy meals and clean and prepare vegetables. 

Thank You Note 

Being a nonprofit organisation we always look for support from our donors and other organisations to ensure that we are giving our children the opportunities they deserve. We would like to express our gratitude to all the donors supporting this project, allowing us to give our children the best chance at a better life. Food will fuel our students and allow them to achieve their dreams.