Residencial Libertad

I met 3-year-old Daniella in the community clinic in Residencial Libertad, a community south of San Salvador. She was waiting with her mother, Maria, and older sister, Allison, to be seen by the doctors. Vitamin Angels’ partnership with Map International and in-country partner FUSAL began in 2008 and continues to bring vitamin A (through Operation 20/20) and prenatal vitamins (through Thrive to Five) to thousands of mothers and children across El Salvador.

Daniella has been receiving vitamin A through the clinic here twice a year. Maria expressed her gratitude for Vitamin Angels’ contributions saying that with supplementation she had noticed a marked difference in Daniella’s health. She reported that since receiving vitamin A, Daniella gets sick less often and has greater energy overall however, Maria’s greatest challenge has been Daniella’s weight. While her daughter has gained some weight she is still struggling to achieve a healthy weight. At three years old, Daniella has the average weight of a child just one and a half years old.

Maria has received great support for her children from the clinic. She participates in cooking and nutrition classes to learn how to better support the children’s dietary intake and has even received counseling from the clinic on how to encourage Daniella to eat more and different foods to help her gain weight. Maria also meets weekly with other moms to share their parenting challenges. All of the parents place a high value on their children’s health. The clinic also offers parents education in sanitary practices to reduce the instance of illness and infection.

I asked Maria what was most important to her as a mom and she answered that it was to have God present in her family life, for her to be the best parent she can be and to raise her children to be healthy, educated individuals with strong values. She wants her children to have a better chance in life than she has had. She knows that the basis for all these things is good health, and that vitamin A supplementation has been and will be a strong contributing factor.

Vitamin Angels is reaching 98,500 Salvadoran children under-5 with vitamin A and an additional 1,301 mothers with prenatal vitamins through our partnership with implementation partners Map International and local grantee, FUSAL.