Help children
fight malnutrition
Help provide life-saving healthcare and nutritional support for children.
Donate now to support children's health
Help improve healthcare and provide nutritional support today.
Hunger and ill health is crushing dreams and hopes for the future.
All children no matter where they are born have dreams and hopes for the future, yet millions of children are having their hopes crushed because of hunger and ill-health.
Since birth, Mutanu and Ndanu have experienced hunger and malnutrition related issues like stunting, wasting and ill-health.
How your gift will make a difference:
Hope for Health: you could help to improve a family’s access to healthcare clinics for regular checkups and health and growth monitoring.
Hope for Nutrition: you could help support a ChildFund school meals programme and provide parents with training to help them make healthy and nutritious meals for their children.
Hope for Future: you could help a family build a future of food-security by providing them with drought resistant vegetable seeds, livestock, and sustainability training.
"When I grow up, I want to be a policewoman and my sister wants to be a teacher!"
Graph showing median weight range of New Zealand girls versus Mutanu and Ndanu's weight.
Twin girls Mutanu and Ndanu were born in the Horn of Africa, where years of drought dried up water holes, destroyed crops, and livelihoods.
In a drought, young children like Mutanu and Ndanu’s health suffer the most. They experience hunger and malnutrition related issues like stunting, wasting and ill-health.
Mutanu and Ndanu were born malnourished and desperately underweight - Mutanu weighed just 1 kilogram!
And four months ago - when ChildFund started to work in the community where they live - they weighed just 9kgs and 10kgs respectively.
That’s around half the weight of an average girl in New Zealand of the same age!
After attending a growth monitoring session at their ChildFund supported pre-school, their mother, Josephine, received help in the way of nutritional supplements, healthy food and the girls received regular check-ups.
“I received 9kgs of beans, 18kgs of maize, 2L of cooking oil, Unmix flour and moringa powder to help my twins. At the school, ChildFund also provided 2 hot meals for the children in kindergarten and one hot meal for the older children.”
- Jospehine, Mutanu and Ndanu's mum
Now, the twins are gaining weight and growing healthy.
With their health back on track, they've got energy to learn, play, and follow their dreams.
“The twins have greatly improved even in the way they interact with their classmate - they have become more playful and alert.”
- Ms Mutiso, the twin's teacher
WORLDWIDE, MALNUTRITION IS A LEADING CAUSE OF HEALTH CONCERNS FOR CHILDREN
There are many reasons why children around the world do not eat enough nutritious food each day.
When children don't get enough of the right foods when they are young, it can seriously affect their physical and intellectual development for years to come.
The World Health Organisation reports that around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to malnutrition.
The effects of lack of nutrition are detrimental.
- Stunting - low height-for-age, a sign of long-term malnutrition
- Wasting - low weight-for-height, a sign of recent severe weight-loss
- Reduced cognitive potential - causing children to experience learning difficulties
- Severe ill-health - leading ultimately to a very real risk of death
your generosity today can help give...
Hope for Health: you could help to improve a family’s access to healthcare clinics for regular checkups and health and growth monitoring.
Hope for Nutrition: you could help support a ChildFund school feeding programme and provide parents with training to help them make healthy and nutritious meals for their children.
Hope for Future: you could help a family build a future of food-security by providing them with drought resistant vegetable seeds, livestock, and sustainability training.