Life Changing Interventions

The small Community Health team at Revelation Life accomplishes an incredible amount of work each week.  In addition to all of the respiratory health activities I've been involved with, here are a few other projects I've been able to lend a hand with.

Childhood malnutrition is a significant problem in our communities.  Many parents lack the knowledge and the financial means to feed their children age-appropriately.  It is common to see children with obvious symptoms of malnutrition such as brown (instead of black) hair, rashes, and stunting.  Our staff run a weekly nutrition program which is so popular that it even has a waiting list.  At this program, parents learn how they can feed their children well from infancy and beyond, and children are measured for improvements throughout the six month class period (using height, weigh, and middle upper arm circumference).  Child malnutrition is often a harbinger of other social issues within the family, and this program offers an opportunity to provide weekly interventions for the wider family situation as well.

Another major aspect of the work of Revelation Life is our Family Centre.  This is a 9 month program which helps families transition out of the slum and learn vocational and life skills so that they can return to their home villages and thrive.  Earlier this year I got to do a teaching at the Family Centre about diarrhea and how to make oral rehydration salts at home.  This is a life saving tool for treating diarrhea (one of the deadliest childhood diseases) and the ingredients are simple-- salt, sugar, and water.

Here is the moving story of Olivia, one of the dear women who has been impacted by both the Nutrition Program and the Family Centre.