Emergency food aid in Muketuri

Muketuri has high levels of hunger and child malnutrition. There, we strengthened and expanded the nutrition program run by the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle. It is aimed at children under 7 with nutrition problems and at young women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

We handed out staple foods: rice, chickpeas, lentils, pasta, beans, soybeans, tomato sauce, flour, oil and salt. For children under 5 with advanced malnutrition, we added fafa (a fortified blended flour), powdered milk, cereals, oats and medicine for parasites and other illnesses common in the area.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women also received folic acid, vitamins and training materials. The program was rounded out with hygiene and cleaning products and hands-on workshops for families on good nutrition and hygiene practices.

In June 2022, the Bizkaia Provincial Council awarded the grant for this emergency project to the NGO Huancavelicaren Lagunak, which submitted it together with Amigos de Silva, our organization in Ethiopia. Amigos de Silva carried it out in Muketuri over six months, starting in November 2022.