Parents in remote areas are concerned about the alarming number of children facing malnutrition, specifically wasting, due to poor feeding. Wasting is the most immediate, visible, and life-threatening form of malnutrition, resulting from the failure to prevent malnutrition among vulnerable children. If JFM didn’t prioritize feeding the poor, the impact of malnutrition on vulnerable families would grow.
This condition also ravages pregnant teenagers who their partners dump. Every eight homes out of ten, you find children under five who are severely malnourished and not even on treatment. Those treated and discharged do not access food after a certain period, and the same cases relapse. This is simply because some kids, after being discharged, go back to the same environment where they lack food and become malnourished again. JFM recognizes that some parents indulge in alcohol and drug abuse and stop feeding their children. This can only be treated by the gospel teaching parents to be responsible in the way that God recommends. Instead, some decide to sell food they would have shared with their children and feed them well.
It is perplexing and challenging to explain to many.
How is it possible, after all, that poor kids get such big bellies? Shouldn’t their abdomen shrink with their diets?
The answer is no, not necessarily. When children have this type of inflated stomach, it is called kwashiorkor, a form of malnutrition caused by severe protein deficiency. It is brought about by sufficient calorie intake without adequate protein in one’s diet.
We can’t solve Uganda’s hunger problem, but we are a true Godsend to those we do help. It is an understatement to say that “God is the only answer” to this hunger crisis. This is why we give out gospel tracts to everyone that we deliver food; God’s word is the answer to hunger. When people live right and seek God for answers, God responds in many ways. God will deliver His people. We have seen hope renewed and love grow in areas that we reach. We thank God for that.
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