The Food and Safe Water program is dedicated to all children that suffer from malnutrition and have no access to safe drinking water. Proper nutrition and safe water are essential for healthy development, and without them, children are at risk of serious illnesses and death.

Food – essence of life

It is obvious that in order to survive, every living creature has to eat. Thus, food is essential for your survival. If you want to live and stay in good health, you have to take in particular amounts and kinds of food. This remains of great importance for your whole life, from early childhood to old age. Any deviation from this norm can be dangerous for your health, and if deviations are severe and sustained, they can result in death.

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Definition of food

Food is defined as any substance that is consumed in order to provide an organism with nutritional support. Usually, food has a plant or animal origin. It contains nutrients that are vital to our body, for example, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Food is ingested; nutrients are assimilated by our body’s cells. This process provides us with energy, stimulates our growth and is necessary to maintain life.
Ages ago, in order to have access to food, people had to hunt and gather, and cultivate the land. Nowadays, we are provided with food by the food industry. Food safety and security is controlled by different agencies. It is very important to remember that the right to food is a human right guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that signed and ratified by almost every country in the world.

Healthy diet

A healthy diet should support an organism with necessary nutrition; that is fluid, adequate amino acids from protein, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and proper amount of calories. This diet is essential for health, and every excess or deficiency of any element can cause various health problems.

In order to be well nourished you should follow these rules:

  • Eat the same amount of calories that your body uses each day.
  • Eat more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts.
  • Eat fewer fats but when you do, take in unsaturated fats.
  • Eat less sugar and salt.

One of the severe results of an unbalanced diet can be malnutrition.

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Malnutrition

The term “malnutrition” refers to a condition that may be a result of one of two kinds of diet – one with not enough nutrients and one with too many nutrients. The nutrients that we refer to are primarily, calories, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. We are mainly interested in malnutrition, as over-nutrition is not common in developing countries.

Malnutrition is most often caused by the lack of high quality food that may be connected, for example, with some natural disasters or poverty. Many things can increase the demand for nutrients, for example, infectious diseases and breastfeeding.

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Malnutrition is particularly dangerous for children during gestation and for those who are less than two years old. Its occurrence may lead to permanent problems with physical and mental development. Malnutrition in its extreme form is referred to as starvation and includes such symptoms as: a thin body, short height, very low energy levels, and swollen legs and abdomen. The person becomes very weak and is vulnerable to infections because the immune system doesn’t have the strength to defend the body

Malnutrition also has an effect on HIV transmission. It is quite likely that a malnourished mother will pass the virus on to her child. In addition, in areas without access to safe drinking water, the health risks are much greater and pose a serious threat to the community. All this leads to a sort of spiral; weak and poorly developed people are less able to make a living and acquire food. Therefore, their conditions worsen day by day.

Chronic illnesses and diarrhea, common phenomenon in developing countries, accelerate the development of malnutrition. Under these threats the human body has bigger metabolic requirements, but the intake of food and nutrient absorption are slowed, causing devastation in the body.

What can be done?

The situation in developing countries is especially difficult for children as they are the most vulnerable. Many foundations are working on how to stop these unnecessary cycles of death. Actions that are aimed at helping malnourished children to survive should be connected not only with provision of food but also with provision of safe drinking water, medications, vaccines, and hygiene and wellness supplies.

One of the foundations that is concerned with the fate of these children is the Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation. It has developed special programs that provide children, for example in Africa, with all the necessary services to treat malnutrition and restore health. One of those programs is called Food and Safe Water and it is focused on giving children access to nutrients and safe drinking water. This program has been created in order to strengthen children and give them a chance for a healthy future with no unnecessary death in it.

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Polluted water

Water is considered polluted when there is an adverse change in its physical, chemical and bacteriological properties caused by the influence of an excess presence of inorganic (solid, liquid, gas), organic, radioactive substances and/or heat, that limit or make it impossible to use the water for drinking and farming purposes. Water pollution is mainly caused by chemical substances or by bacteria and other microorganisms. Natural disasters, such as storms or earthquakes, may impact water quality.

Water pollution is considered to be one of the biggest global problems. Many suggest that it is one of the main causes of death and disease in the world. It is estimated that over 14,000 people die daily due to complications caused by lack of access to safe drinking water. All over the world people use water contaminated with pathogens, high levels of toxins or suspended solids. This, in turn, results in widespread acute and chronic illnesses and quite often leads to death.

In developing countries over 90% of deaths of children less than five years old are caused by diarrheal diseases. Malnutrition weakens children’s immune systems leaving them with little or no protection against water-related diarrheal diseases.

It is obvious that inhabitants of developing countries need help in gaining access to safe drinking water in order to get a chance for normal healthy lives.

Simple mathematics

•Areas of East Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, are experiencing one of the worst droughts in 60 years. The drought has decimated livestock and crops, resulting in famine that has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.

•Over eleven (11.3) million people in the Horn of Africa are in need of food assistance due to the drought.

•Almost half of the population is malnourished in the southern parts of Somalia; this is the highest malnutrition rate in the world.

•According to the United States Fund for UNICEF, 2 million children are at risk of starvation in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia.

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Did you know that $1 is enough?

Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation could not exist without your help. Together with our nonprofit organization, you can provide many children with food, and thus, save their lives. Just $1 per day is enough to provide 24 packets of high-energy biscuits that are specially developed for malnourished children. In addition, $1.50 per day gives this charity foundation a chance to provide 1 malnourished child with Ready-to-eat Paste for Acute Malnutrition

Remember, a small gesture from you can be a big change for many children. Almost with no effort, you can support malnourished children with food and save many lives. All you must do is to contact Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation for more information. Will you help us?