Today, there were over a 1,000 children waiting when we showed up in Mahundapur, a slum outside of Delhi with our colleagues from Believers Church. When you are doing vitamin interventions with chronically malnourished children, you can be assured that a multitude of other health problems will be present so it has been wonderful to have Dr. Alan Greene, a world-class pediatrician, and his son, Garrett, join us on the trip.

I introduced Alan and of course immediately afterward, when the vitamin A and prenatal distributions began, Alan had a line of mothers waiting to see him. There is no medical help in this slum at all. Chronic malnutrition was readily apparent and Alan came across a variety of health concerns: skin problems, respiratory problems, ear infections, hearing loss, widespread stunting (small for their age), wasting (low weight for their age), epilepsy and arthritis. The good and bad news is that so many of these problems are related to micronutrient deficiency; some can be easily turned around now with vitamin interventions, and a number could have been avoided had we gotten here sooner with the proper vitamins. It's all the more reason to push onward and continue expanding our reach. This year we will be reaching one million children in India - we need your help to make it happen!

It was wonderful seeing the mothers and their children. For me meeting the children and getting to make a connection the people is what this work is all about, but the reality of their situation is always sobering. Vitamin Angels alone can't reach every mother or child in need, which is the reason why we need partners like Believers Church to accomplish our goals. These people speak the language, know the customs, and live in these communities. Our projects would not be possible without them.

Tomorrow we're on a plane to a remote region North of Kolkata (see map) to observe more distributions and meet more of our beneficiaries.
 

Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene joins Howard in India from Vitamin Angels on Vimeo.