Two shipping containers full of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) are arriving in African countries over the next few weeks, thanks to a Langley charity.
The food will assist 1,800 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and arrangements have been made by Langley’s Food For Famine Society. Through the generosity of Billy Vandekerkhove of Super Save Group, $100,000 was donated to sponsor the two shipping containers.
The first container is set to arrive the Democratic Republic of the Congo today (Dec. 23), with the second one scheduled to arrive in South Sudan in mid-January 2015.
The Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food will be distributed by Food For Famine’s partner World Vision Canada, through its community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition Programs (CMAM).
World Vision in the DRC will implement an integrated nutrition, health, water and sanitation program in Mitwaba territory in the “Triangle de la Mort.” This project will provide direct nutrition treatment to beneficiaries, comprising of mothers and children under five years old. World Vision seeks to provide for the stabilization and treatment of 739 severely acutely malnourished children under five years of age with medical complications, through in-patient treatment in three health centres.
A further 7,387 severely acutely malnourished (SAM) people without medical complications will be treated within the Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) with RUTF.
Maria Martini of Food For Famine Society reports that a third container is close to being filled, thanks to donors from the World Food Day corporate breakfast in October at Langley Events Centre. It will be shipped to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the New Year.
Anyone who would like to assist can donate online at http://www.foodforfamine.org or by texting FFF to 45678, to immediately donate $5.