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Off to India!
The Vitamin Angels team is headed to India once again and I'm thrilled to be returning to visit with the children benefiting from twice yearly vitamin A through Operation 20/20 program, and the mothers receiving prenatal vitamins through Thrive to Five. Heading back to India I'm reminded of trips years ago when we were first establishing our international presence. Those early trips involved weeks in the field meeting with potential grantees, traveling for days on trains, hours and hours in 4X4 vehicles and creating the infrastructure to reach 250,000 children. This time I will be joined by Vitamin Angels’ GIK Coordinator Phoebe Hitchman and once again by our documentary photographer Matt Dayka Please follow along with us on our trip. Sign up for our email list to read our experiences in the field, follow my tweets, and look for photos of the amazing moms and children that we are able to reach with your support.
Upwards!
Howard Schiffer
President and Founder
About India:
While vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a global health problem, it is epidemic in India. Consequently, eliminating VAD in India is a critical component of the global challenge to eliminate VAD. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2010 that of Indian children under age 5:
- 62.1% suffer from Vitamin A Deficiency
- 74.3% are anemic
- 43.5% are underweight
- The under-5 mortality rate is 69 deaths per 1,000 live births (1 in 14).
Be sure to follow along with our team in India! They’ll be sending updates from the field, including stories of those they meet, and images from the in-country community-based vitamin A distributions they’ll be visiting.
notes from the field:
An (Indian) Island Greeting - January 10, 2012
A Critical Intervention - January 17, 2012
A special thanks to:
Our friends from DSM, Nature's Own, and The Vitol Charitable Foundation for joining us in India. The Vitamin Angels team is excited to have you along for the adventure!
Vitamin Angels’ in-country partner Believer’s Church of India for hosting our team and helping to coordinate this trip.
The companies below whose donated product makes our work in India possible, and to all our financial contributors who support projects like this one all around the world:
