MFK Blog

Located in a small town about half an hour west of Cap Haitian, Limbé Clinic serves as a community health center that coordinates a multitude of programs, from maternity health to voluntary counseling and HIV testing.  For many years, with support from MFK and the World Bank, it has also run an outpatient program to treat children for acute malnutrition with Medika Mamba.

Madam Thoby runs the show with outstanding success rates, part of which can be attributed to how seriously she takes the program protocols. Following the end of the grant with MFK, Limbé is now able to keep this program up and running through the generosity of an individual donor. Dr. Alvarez visited the clinic earlier this year and chose to channel his generosity into supplying the clinic with life-saving Medika Mamba, after seeing firsthand the importance of this program for the community and the quick turnaround rates of children who enter the program with little hope and leave with much more, their health. Madam Thoby recently told the story of a young boy named Mèrèlus. He entered the program with severe Kwashiorkor, an acute form of childhood protein-energy malnutrition. When the mother returned, two weeks later, Madam Thoby was confused since it appeared she hadn’t brought her son with her to the clinic. Replacing confusion with joy, the mother explained that the young boy sitting next to her was Mèrèlus. “We’re still seeing miracles,” she said with a huge smile and a face that exudes dedication. Limbe clinic hospital.jpgShe went on to explain that often children with severe Kwashiorkor complete the treatment in less than the full 12 weeks allowed by the protocols. They’ve typically turned around by 10 weeks, which demonstrates that mothers are listening, learning, and adhering to Madam Thoby’s instructions for effective use. Prior to using the Medika Mamba, vitamin enriched milk with much lower success rates and higher associated costs was used. Now, with their community based care approach paired with the gold standard treatment for malnutrition, hope has been restored in the nurses, the mothers, and in the children. Madam Thoby explained that when the kids come into the clinic and see the sachets of Medika Mamba, they cry. They want the Mamba.

Madam Thoby works alongside Madam Yva; the two women combined have clocked up sixty years at the Limbé Clinic. Together they have seen many changes, developed strong ties with the other existing hospital in the area, and they continue to improve the livelihoods of many with strong educational programs and low cost life saving services.

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Meds & Food for Kids saves the lives of Haiti's malnourished children by producing and distributing highly nutritious foods, including Medika Mamba, a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Because of its commitment to Haiti's long-term development, MFK produces Medika Mamba in Haiti, with Haitian labor, and with many Haitian raw materials.

Meds & Food For Kids is featured today in a article, "Peanut Butter Miracle" by Fran Mannino in the Webster-Kirkwood Times. It also discusses two filmmakers, Lori Dowd and Frank Poppers, who are making a documentary about the use of Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Food in Haiti.

To read the full article please click here.

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Meds & Food for Kids saves the lives of Haiti's malnourished children by producing and distributing highly nutritious foods, including Medika Mamba, a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Because of its commitment to Haiti's long-term development, MFK produces Medika Mamba in Haiti, with Haitian labor, and with many Haitian raw materials.

Tim Brenneman and David Jordan’s itinerary for their recent visit to Haiti through MFK’s partnership with the Peanut Collaborative Research and Support Program (PCRSP) seems to leave little room for error, let alone downtime. However, lacking the advanced techniques, machinery, and equipment that is prevalent in the United States, there is often no other option but to adjust to the unexpected. Each step is accompanied by a challenge, though rarely insurmountable. They’re quickly reminded of the differing rate at which success is achieved in Haiti’s agriculture sector compared to that of the United States. It wouldn’t be a typical morning if one of MFK’s two vehicles didn’t pose an issue or simply wasn’t working. This day, after loading the car with seed, seed treatment, tools for planting, and bags of miscellaneous items needed for a day of field work, the alternator malfunctioned. There was little confidence that the car would last through the day, a chance not worth taking when time is valuable and limited. After coming up with a plan of action for repair and switching vehicles, the team was on their way to lay a new trial plot which will test a variety of seed.

First, the seed must be treated by hand, a task accomplished by machinery in much less time in the United States. The treatment is applied to reduce the potential of fungi growth on peanuts, an important though not an easy feat in the tropics. Reducing fungi growth leads to increased yields, though to what degree remains uncertain when factors such as rainfall and rodents play into the picture. In an area where increased yields affects putting food on the table and sending children to school rather than profit margins, it is a step that cannot be ignored.

Above: Tim Brenneman treats over 15 bags of seed separately taking caution not to damage them.

Meanwhile, David and James repair an oil leak in the newly acquired, but nowhere near shiny or new, tractor that makes it possible to plow twice as much land in half the amount of time than by hand. Techniques and technologies like this are so uncommon that within minutes two crowds have formed, one around Tim treating the seed and the other around David and James who repair the tractor and fill the machine with fuel, another comparatively difficult task. Only 10 feet from the tractor a man splits bamboo with a machete supplying the men with stakes to mark the varieties of seed planted in the trial plot. This is merely the preparation phase.

Above: They improvise a makeshift gas station and use bamboo stakes to mark the local varieties

Seven hours later, the field is freshly plowed, a new trial plot laid, peanuts planted, and relationships formed with members of the community, some of whom gathered to observe, others to work, and still more to provide hospitality to MFK’s PCRSP partners.

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Meds & Food for Kids saves the lives of Haiti's malnourished children by producing and distributing highly nutritious foods, including Medika Mamba, a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Because of its commitment to Haiti's long-term development, MFK produces Medika Mamba in Haiti, with Haitian labor, and with many Haitian raw materials.