Reducing Malnutrition in Haiti

Increasing Nutrition and Resilience Through Diversified Micro Home Enterprises

Lack of Financial Resources and Education Contribute to Malnutrition

Tackling malnutrition required addressing two key issues; immediate treatment of under nourished children, and education and financial resources to prevent relapse and establish families for future success. It is a proven fact that having access to a reliable income to purchase the ingredients that make a nutritious diet is crucial to preventing malnutrition. Using Second Mile Haiti’s holistic in-patient malnutrition treatment program, Caregivers (98% of whom are women) stay at the facility to contribute towards their malnourished child’s recovery. They participate in educational classes on nutrition, health, and wellness that will help to prevent malnutrition, as well as classes on literacy, numeracy, and business principles. Upon successful completion of their classes and their child’s continued weight gain beneficiaries are eligible to receive a business package to support income-generation through commerce.

Treatment and training has proven to change lives

Using this holistic rehabilitation model and access to business generation packages, 407 of the Caregivers who completed Second Mile’s Treatment Center program have started small commerce-based businesses. Only 1.2% of these Caregivers have experienced the relapse of one of their children , indicating the effectiveness of an income-generating business.

Project Contact Details

Project Leader: John Moore

I have been involved since 2019 and accompanied a monitoring trip to Guatemala in 2020. It was gratifying to meet, share meals, talk, and walk with the members of remote subsistence communities as they proudly showed off what they’d achieved through their own hard manual work and our financial support. Currently, I am Project Manager for support and partnership projects with Second Mile Haiti, and for Scholarships, providing financial support to indigenous high school candidates in Guatemala and Belize.

Address

12801 Bramalea Rd., Caledon Ontario, L7C 2R1

Second Mile Haiti

Second Mile Haiti works with families who are most at risk of turning to orphanages. They believe that by using a comprehensive approach to treating childhood malnutrition, they can break the cycle of undernutrition in Haiti, and keep families together.

Outcomes

Many families are benefiting from this ongoing project.

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