Sunday, March 21, 2010

Malnutrition in India



Here is where the project is taking place: in the central state of Madhya Pradesh

Our Project

Almost one half of the children of India under 5 years old are underweight. In the massive central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (MP) the number of malnourished children jumps to over 60%. The gap between wealthy and impoverished people is quickly growing. This is an issue that must be faced.

Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) is an organization dedicated to providing humanitarian support to people living in disaster, post-war, and poverty-stricken areas. In 2009, their Malnutrition Eradication Initiative was launched by Caitlin McQuilling to tackle the issue of malnutrition in MP. By collaborating with government agencies, self-help groups, NGOs, and local businesses, RMF has been able to identify, prevent, and treat malnutrition while creating sustainable community-led solutions. Their basic strategy consists of educating and empowering members of the villages in need.


However RMF cannot get to every village. With a population of 700, Bilidoj is a village in dire need of holistic intervention. We are here to do the job. We will travel to Bilidoj to implement key aspects of the RMF mission while contributing innovative strategies of our own, all the while, documenting our project. Upon returning to California, we will fundraise enough money so that Real Medicine Foundation can implement its own initiative in up to fifty villages.