Nourish Vulnerable Mothers and Children in Nigeria

When Mummy Mariam first came to us, her daughter was severely malnourished. Her bones were visible, her tiny body too weak to sit or crawl. Like many mothers in underserved communities around Lagos, she lived with the daily fear of losing her child to hunger.

Through your generous donations to the Nutritious Meal Plan Intervention (NUMEPLAN), Mariam received fortified food items, while her mother learned how to prepare simple, affordable meals to rebuild her child’s strength. Slowly, Mariam began to recover gaining weight, smiling more, and eventually crawling for the very first time.

Because of your giving in the past quarter, we have been able to:

• Provide nutritious meal to additional two children.

• Support with 16.8 kg of food to the two Mother and Child

• Train 2 mothers on nutrition and hygiene to sustain healthy feeding practices at home.

While this reporting period did not bring in new donations through the GlobalGiving platform, we are committed to the vision that every vulnerable mother and child deserves access to nutritious food and essential support. Your past support has inspired us to press forward and we are excited to share the progress we have made through local partnerships and volunteer efforts.

Through collaboration with corporate organizations and the dedication of our volunteers, the Lagos Food Bank Initiative has reached 175 mothers and children with nutrition support and education for mothers, children and caregivers. These were made possible with donations and community support, underscoring the strength of local commitment to this cause.

Samuel is a year and 6-month-old child that was referred to us at The Lagos Food Bank NUMEPLAN Program from one of our partners PHC, He is the fourth child of four children of his mother, he was carried to term, mother usually fall sick during pregnancy and consume some herbal concoctions while pregnant, Child was exclusively breastfed and had already started feeding on complimentary meals. On enrollment at our NUMEPLAN program, Mother complained that the child is a picky eater, the child weighs 5.7 kg and Mid-upper circumference of 9.4 cm which is a pointer that he is severely malnourished. He presented signs such as febrile, irritability. With guidance from our Nutrition team at Lagos Food Bank, Samuel’s mum was educated on nutritional guidelines and feeding patterns and was also provided with some nutritious food items to feed the child.

After 3 months of care, Samuel’s health got better and was transformed, his weight increased significantly from 5.7kg to 8.0 kg and his Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MAUC) increased from 9.5cm to 12.7cm reflecting that his nutritional status improved.

Samuel has successfully been discharged from the NUMEPLAN program and he is being scheduled for follow-up visitations to monitor his progress and ensure continued health and wellbeing. Adequate nutrition is the key as we focus on tackling malnutrition.

The absence of funding from GlobalGiving during this period has limited our ability to scale our efforts. We remain hopeful that with your renewed support, we can meet this target and ensure no mother or child is left behind. Every contribution brings us closer to that goal.

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