| Join Our List
|
|
|
|
World Food Day 2010 Combating Severe Acute Malnutrition
among Children in India
|
|
Saturday, October 16th is World Food Day, and in honor of the occasion,
we are reflecting on the 8 million children in India suffering from severe
malnutrition--innocents who were born in a country where 47% of children are
malnourished.
Children in India don't just suffer from a lack of food, but a lack of a
balanced diet including essential vitamins and minerals. In the worst cases,
children will succumb to Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)--malnutrition that is
so severe, the body begins consuming its own tissues. If untreated, SAM
results in death or permanent physical and mental stunting--perpetuating poverty
and hunger for generations.
A Revolutionary
New Treatment
Until a few years ago, SAM was treated--rather unsuccessfully--by
hospitalization or dry food therapy, and only 25-40% of children survived.
Miraculously, there has been a recent revolution in the treatment of SAM with
the development of vitamin fortified, energy-dense food formulations-Ready to
Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs). RUTFs rapidly put weight on malnourished
children and are typically comprised of a mixture of ground peanuts, powdered
milk, sugar, vegetable oil, and vitamins and minerals. With an 85% patient
recovery rate, RUTF treatment is simply the cheapest and most effective treatment
in existence.
Now is the time
to act
CTI engineers, nutritionists, and food scientists have developed an RUTF
formulation composed of peanuts and other ingredients that can be found in India. With
your support, CTI will establish pilot facilities in India to produce RUTF with
local ingredients and local workers. The product will be distributed through
the Sion Hospital Group in Mumbai for formal clinical trials under the
direction of recognized pediatricians. Once operational, the process will be
scaled-out and the RUTF will be offered to thousands of severely malnourished
children in India.
Help us Save
Lives
We can't continue this project without your help. Dr. Shiv and Gale Murty
have issued a challenge grant for this project. Total donations before December 31, 2010 up to $5,000 will be matched
100% by Shiv and Gale. Shiv, a project lead and long time volunteer with
CTI, is a graduate of the India Institute of Technology - Bombay (a partner of
this project) and a retired food scientist with General Mills.
 |
CTI Benefit at Ten Thousand Villages
|
|
Please join us at Ten Thousand
Villages, 867 Grand
Avenue, St. Paul from 5-8 pm on Tuesday, October 26th for the
second annual CTI Benefit Night from which CTI will receive 20% of all
sales! Ten Thousand
Villages www.stpaul.tenthousandvillages.com is
a nonprofit, fair trade store that sells beautiful and unique
handcrafted
products made by disadvantaged artisans from 38 developing countries.
Spread
the word and bring your friends and family to take advantage of this
opportunity to start their holiday shopping early while benefiting two
worthwhile causes!
|
Concert to Benefit Bangladesh
|
|
On October 22nd at 7:00 pm, LAMB,
an organization that has partnered with CTI for work in Bangladesh, will be
holding a benefit concert at the Nativity Lutheran Church in St. Anthony, MN.
Proceeds from the concert will support early childhood education needs and
nutritional projects for women in Bangladesh. For more information, download
the flyer (PDF).
|
|
Compatible
Technology International (CTI) is a nonprofit organization that
designs and distributes simple food and water technologies for the developing
world. The introduction of CTI's simple tools
helps impoverished families improve their nutrition and generate income,
providing sustainable pathways out of hunger and poverty. For more information
about CTI, visit www.compatibletechnology.org.
|
|
|
