http://www.mercycorps.org/ The Latest Mercy Corps Hunger/Nutrition Content en-us (c) 2007 Mercy Corps http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:59:02 -0700 Charity Mercy Corps In-house CMS 60 http://www.mercycorps.org/ /images/donate/mercy_logo_red.gif http://www.mercycorps.org/ 136 48 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/2277/ Mercy Corps is taking the lead in a yearlong distribution of 100,000 metric tons of food to quell rampant hunger in North Korea. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:26 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/2189/ As Somalia slides closer to famine, Mercy Corps continues to drill boreholes, build schools and offer short-term jobs in an area where few global relief agencies will tread. Thu, 22 May 2008 06:31:29 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/2156/ You can help address the current food crisis by encouraging Congress to pass legislation to aid vulnerable families. Mon, 12 May 2008 06:35:12 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/sudan/2101/ Thanks to Mercy Corps supporters, we continue to help the hardworking people of Sudan survive — and even envision brighter times ahead. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:11:17 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/northkorea/1773/ In May 2007 Esme Culver visited North Korea at the request of that country's officials. While there, she gained rare and thoughtful insight. Wed, 13 Jun 2007 07:02:32 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/silentdisasters/nigerhunger/1680/ Two visitors experienced the fragility of life in Niger firsthand in the desert-fringed town of Sanam. Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:24:48 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/silentdisasters/nigerhunger/1683/ Life is hard in Sanam, Niger; Boubacar Harouna knows that better than most. Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:15:12 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/silentdisasters/nigerhunger/1690/ Despite uncertainty, Fati Issia is determined that her young son Moctar will have a healthy start. Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:02:43 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/1692/ Mercy Corps' country director answers questions and makes observations on life and work in Niger. Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:13:23 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/colombia/1603/ Students in one of Barranquilla's poorest neighborhoods are eating healthier thanks to a newly outfitted school kitchen. Thu, 01 Feb 2007 10:10:53 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/kyrgyzstan/1829/ Mercy Corps is ensuring 50,000 kindergarteners and boarding-school students throughout southern Kyrgyzstan receive healthy meals. Tue, 31 Oct 2006 09:50:29 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/1448/ In one of Sudan's most remote places, mothers are teaching peers how to feed their kids and prepare food safely. Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:22:34 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/1437/ Mercy Corps' John Hanson reports on the precariousness of life for families braving a persistent food crisis. Tue, 22 Aug 2006 09:57:37 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/1280/ As the crisis in Gaza deepens for already-impoverished families, Mercy Corps is launching a critical new emergency response to help them survive. Thu, 18 May 2006 07:59:11 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/indonesia/1242/ One smiling, cheerful child is a success in Mercy Corps Indonesia's struggle against epidemic anemia in a small town. Fri, 21 Apr 2006 07:31:13 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/niger/1106/ Mercy Corps' feeding program in Niger is helping children and mothers made vulnerable by an ongoing food crisis. Wed, 15 Feb 2006 10:17:50 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/ethiopia/1057/ Fodder tree nurseries help Ethiopia's cattle survive the country's brutal dry spells, protecting families' most precious assets. Thu, 19 Jan 2006 11:26:46 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hivaids/991/ A From the HIVIDS pandemic to the looming threat of avian flu, health care plays a crucial role in protecting and developing vulnerable communities. Mercy Corps Health Director Carlos Cardenas spent some time discussing the agency's initiatives. Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:09:59 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/828/ Mercy Corps is responding to famine conditions in Niger with comprehensive feeding, nutrition and health programs. Fri, 21 Oct 2005 10:32:34 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/indonesia/903/ One sunny morning inside of an elementary school classroom in West Sumatra's Pariaman district, a few dozen eager-looking students accepted bright yellow cartons handed out to them by their teachers. Among the quiet bunch was Weki, a little boy wearing a black kopiah, a native Indonesian hat. The little fingers of his right hand hastily poked the sharp end of a short white straw into the fitting hole on top of the yellow carton, while his left hand held on tight to the carton box as if to prevent it from slipping from his grasp. Nine-year old Weki is one of the first, second and third graders drinking fortified soy-milk from little yellow boxes distributed by Mercy Corps' Sumatra Healthy Schools Program (SHSP). The program aims to fight the chronic problem of anemia and the prevalence of worms in Sumatran schoolchildren through health education and distribution of fortified soy-milk to students and their teachers. The program also provides services where children receive de-worming treatments twice yearly. After quietly finishing the chocolate-flavored liquid, Weki carefully pressed the empty yellow carton before walking over to the large trash bin outside his classroom to throw it away. "I like math," he said when asked what he liked most about school. Considerably small for his age, Weki cautiously said that he usually eats just rice at home. He nodded rather hesitantly in agreement when asked whether he eats vegetables with his rice. Children like Weki are often left to eat non-nutritious snacks sold cheaply by roadside vendors commonly found in many Indonesian neighborhoods. Fortified soy-milk is therefore seen as an alternative to unhealthy snacks these children consume. One of the ingredients added to enrich the distributed soy-milk is iron, an essential nutrient to fight anemia. Weki is just one of the 170,000 schoolchildren and teachers in Sumatra targeted to receive the fortified drink as many as three times a week through Mercy Corps' SHSP program. "Children must consume healthy foods and their parents or care-givers must understand that their daily consumption can determine their nutritional status and health in general," said Marco Savio, SHSP's Program manager in Padang, West Sumatra. Three other Sumatran provinces - Riau, Lampung and Bengkulu - will also benefit from this program, which educates its beneficiaries about living a healthier life. Like approximately 1,000 targeted schools in the aforementioned four provinces, Weki's is just one among those targeted by this program. Savio said SHSP also aims to target the bigger picture, which is to promote and sustain a healthy life-style for school children like Weki. "We are also working with teachers and parent-teacher associations (PTAs) from 200 schools in these four provinces to receive training about nutrition, environment and health, so they can continue to educate their students about these issues," Savio explained. The program has earmarked funds for around 50 schools in each of the four provinces in the amount of approximately 3 million IDR (or approximately US $300), for each PTA that submits water and sanitation projects for its school. Mercy Corps will provide training to the PTAs to write their proposals for this purpose. Distributing fortified soy-milk is also being pitched to local government institutions. Learning from other programs' experiences across the country, SHSP develops its strategies to advocate and persuade the appropriate local government institutions to allocate funds to distribute fortified soy-milk with the same objective as well. "So far, we have succeeded in getting one Bengkulu district government to do so," said Savio. Later that day, as Weki vaguely shook the flattened bright yellow carton in his tiny hand ensuring that he had finished all its content before throwing it away, he looked up to flash a timid smile as if to say that there is hope for him and his peers. Finishing his fortified soy-milk is just a little gesture that symbolized possibilities for their future. Mon, 03 Oct 2005 10:29:13 -0700