Growing Healthy Food & Healthy Children in Ghana

December has been a very exciting month for the children at the daycare and pre-schools. All 13 schools celebrated the holidays with games and piñatas. 30 de Mayo, the newest school, had their first pre-school graduation for children starting elementary school. Self-Help has been feeding children Quality Protein Maize porridge with vitamins at this center the past 11 months. This is the first healthy group of kids to graduate.

All of the schools continue to show big improvements in the children's health due to the meals we are providing them daily.  They are gaining weight, growing taller and are more energetic. Volunteer mothers prepare the porridge five days a week. Each month a Ministry of Health nurse and the Self-Help staff measure the height and weight of each child to track their progress. Self-Help is pleased to see steady progress among the children.

Self-Help extends its gratitude to its supporters who are helping us alleviate malnutrition among the youngest generation of Nicaragua. 

Our recently added vitamin and mineral packets have already shown such a huge change in the children in our feeding centers. Because the additons are so new we don't have numbers to give yet on the actual change in health however, based on the results of our previous centers who have added the packets, we are more than encouraged. From a general look of lethargy when the program first started to children running around and gianing weight, we are thirlled with the progress being seen.

Executive Director Merry Fredrick returned from a 2-week trip to our programs in Nicaragua on October 1st. Her first visit was to be at the inauguration of a brand new feeding center in 30 de Mayo, located outisde of San Carlos, Nicaragua. This is  a very poor village that was using a family's home two times a week to provide meals and education for younger children. However, after generous donations and grants these mothers will be able to provide better education and meals FIVE days a week. For such a poor village this is a big improvement which will lead to healthier children and give mothers the time they need to work on farms and trade work. Being able to add vitamins and minerals to this village's feeding center will make such an impact. Such a small price to make such a big difference! We are excited to acquire more funds to continue and expand all of our feeding centers' reach.