Light A Candle Foundation continues with the Child Health Promotion program. This program monitors the growth of infants and young children according to the World Health Organization growth standards curriculum, provides counseling to parents, and provides assistance as needed to malnourished children.

Recently we visited a batey and discovered a 2 month old baby with severe malnutrition. Little Angel’s appearance filled us with much sadness, as he only weighed 7 pounds.

Immediately our doctors responded to this situation, first by interviewing the person who brought the child to our growth monitoring clinic. We realized that the person who brought the child was not the mother, but the aunt who currently cares for the child. The mother suffers from incapacitating problems and the father is not interested in caring for the child.

The aunt cares about the baby but has very limited resources and was not able to buy formula for him. Angel had only been fed mashed fruit since birth. This resulted in failure to grow and deterioration of his health.

When we found him, he was extremely underweight and small for his age, listless, weak, and unable to maintain eye contact. Given this presentation, Light A Candle Foundation made a decision to refer the child to a local pediatrician for evaluation and treatment recommendations. The pediatrician immediately recommended hospitalization due to the severity of his malnutrition.

For three days, Angel received intravenous hydration and antibiotics. He also received a blood transfusion due to severe anemia. He began to take formula often. He began to show much improvement and gained a sparkle in his eyes. At the time of discharge from the hospital, Angel had greatly improved and was a happy, contented baby.

We took him back to the batey where he lives, along with a supply of formula, medication prescribed by the pediatrician and other provisions. Angel's future was uncertain when we arrived at his batey two weeks ago, but today Angel has hope to live. Light A Candle Foundation is committed to providing follow up for Angel over the next 5 years so that he may grow up healthy and strong.

We do not rest in our work, but we need resources to continue helping other children who, like Angel, may have little hope in their lives. PLEASE HELP US SAVE LIVES.