MFK Blog

Dieulene arrived at Hospital St. Jean 9 weeks ago. At 19 months, she weighed only 14 pounds, far below the 19 pounds recommended for her height. She had a severe case of malnutrition. It’s always frightening to see children in this state- here today, gone tomorrow. Dieulene’s mother has passed away; her father is out of the picture. Previously, her grandmother had brought her to the clinic every week, now she is being hospitalized. This week a neighbor woman brought Dieulene to the check up.

Usually children’s caregivers are referred to the Medika Mamba program when the child comes to the clinic for vaccinations or other concerns such as diarrhea. If the nurse recognizes that the child is underweight, they refer them to the program. Medika Mamba is designed to meet the needs of severe and moderately malnourished children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old. Doses (in spoonful) are doled out several times a day according to the child’s weight and height, the bigger the child, the greater the dose. Progress is monitored on a weekly basis and caretakers are only given enough Medika Mamba to get them through the week, thus ensuring their attendance at the following week’s check-in.  

Lethargic, inactive and weary describe a child who is losing the battle with malnutrition. This no longer describes Dieulene who was alert, feisty, and irritable during her 9th and final visit, just like a healthy child when surrounded by strangers. This is a good sign.  Her discharge weight is a healthy 18.7 pounds. Thick healthy skin with a little fat under it covers the ribs on her back, unlike nearby children who were just beginning their Medika Mamba regimens. This kind of improvement in child after child is what fuels our commitment to increasing the availability and use of Medika Mamba in the fight against childhood malnutrition. 

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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

Pétion Jean-Marie doesn’t talk much when he mops. Wearing a set of navy blue scrubs, he cleans and dusts one of MFK’s storage depots in solitude. He’ll share his wide grin, but he’s not a fan of jokes during work or idle chit-chat. He wants to do his job and do it well.

Since 2007 53-year-old Jean-Marie has woken up before dark to take a tap-tap or public bus to MFK each day. His salary helps him support his family and pay for his three children’s schooling. Jean-Marie sorts boxes of raw materials- peanuts, powdered milk and the supplements that make up Medika Mamba- he loads them to trucks and a storage depot. Jean-Marie then makes sure the depot is swept, mopped, and kept tidy. Passing motorcycles, busses, and cars stir up dust, meaning his job is a constant task.

Jean-Marie says he is glad for the work. He’s one of 30 Haitians employed at MFK in a country where most of the population has no formal job. Before he worked with us Jean-Marie came to the MFK factory day after day, promising to work hard if employed. When MFK finally made the smart move and hired him everyone was amazed at his incredible work ethic. 

Jean-Marie has an incredible story and has been involved in all sorts of work. At one point he planted tobacco in the Dominican Republic for an American company. For two years he rowed a boat and caught fish. “Fishing is fine,” he said in Creole, “When you’re not old.”

On the weekends, he and his wife run a small shop that sells necessities like beans, rice, and oil. He hopes to save money between the two jobs so his family can have a little security. Jean-Marie wants to be part of MFK’s growth. With a new factory and more supplies, Jean-Marie said he’s excited to see MFK expand. “I want us to serve all the children of Haiti,” he said.

He thinks on his life as he mops quietly. He said his tranquility comes from his faith in God and a simple approach to his job: “Work is for working.”

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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

In 2010 MFK joined Nutriset’s PlumpyField Network, a global community of independent producers of nutritional solutions for vulnerable populations. One of the main ways the PlumpyField Network helps fight malnutrition is to transfer technology to promote local responses to malnutrition. MFK is part of the PlumpyField Network’s success story, and we have benefited from our membership. As a member, we have been able to acquire our new Opti-Nut machinery, strengthen our quality assurance and comply with international standards. All of these things strengthen MFK’s ability to produce a local solution to issues of malnutrition in Haiti. In short, the PlumpyField Network enables us to help save children's lives.

Being part of the PlumpyField Network also means MFK is now part of a global movement to fight malnutrition. While MFK works to fight malnutrition in Haiti, other members of the PlumpyField Network are helping vulnerable populations in Sudan, Malawi and India, just to name a few. Right now Edesia and HILINA, fellow network members, are playing a crucial role in providing nutritional solutions and hope to the crisis going on in East Africa. Click here to see CNN video about the East African crisis and see boxes of Plumpy'nut being unloaded to fight the hunger in Somalia. When a Plumpy’nut product reaches a child, a life is changed. MFK is proud to be part of Nutriset’s PlumpyField Network and the global fight against malnutrition.

Pictured below MFK Maintenance Officer Phito Daniel Florestal and Nutriset Process Engineer Simon Goujard holding some of the first Medika Mamba to come off the new Opti-Nut line. 

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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