Holiday Fundraiser: Meet Sonu

This holiday season, support us in combating the malnutrition crisis among children in India. Help us to provide for the highest quality treatment and care at our treatment center for children with Severe Acute Malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh, India.

Sonu’s Story

Sonu was brought into our treatment center hardly conscious at barely 11 lbs and 2 years old.  Initially referred to the district hospital after testing with a very high white blood cell count, Sonu was rushed back to our treatment center after the hospital was unable to properly care for him.  We made sure the family was as comfortable as possible and brought a doctor from Jhabua to look after Sonu and the other children at the NRC.  Sonu’s mouth was covered in sores so bad it was painful for him to even drink milk.  All the members of the RMF team took turns sitting with Sonu and his mother and painstakingly used an eye-dropper to feed him with formula.

Two weeks later, Sonu had gained over 4 lbs and was smiling, giving attitude, and eating everything he could get his hands on.  He was soon switched over to a different formula and solid, local foods diet as well.

After 30 days Sonu returned to our center for his 2^nd follow-up looking positively chubby!   We have a lot of very serious cases in the NRC right now who we’re worrying about, but its success stories like this that keep us going.

For the full story about Sonu on our blog click here and here.

Our Nutritional Rehabilitation Center

In June 2010, Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) and partner Jeevan Jyoti Hospital (JJH) opened a Nutritional Rehabilitation Center (NRC) in Madhya Pradesh. This Public-Private Partnership is one of a handful of its kind in all of India: the State Government provides the funding for patient care while RMF and JJH provide the facilities, staff, and technical support for the difficult task of treating children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In addition to our treatment center, we conduct outreach camps to bring education and malnutrition treatment to the rural areas unable to reach our clinic.

Our Approach: Comprehensive Care and Education

RMF’s goal is that each child treated at our center not only recovers from malnutrition, but also stays well. With the capacity to treat 20 children at a time, our center offers around the clock care to children suffering from complications of malnutrition. Our dedicated staff caters to the medical needs of acute patients and works closely with the mothers/caregivers to address the root causes of malnutrition.  The child’s caregiver stays at our center for the 14-21 day course of their child’s treatment. Our staff provides caregivers with one-to-one and group counseling /training sessions on the basics of childcare and nutrition. This long-term approach equips parents with the right knowledge and skills to keep their children and communities healthy.

This year we have:

• Covered 37,000 families and 56,000 children across 500 villages in a baseline malnutrition survey
• Held 38,000 Counseling Sessions
• Counseled care givers of 6,000 diagnosed cases of Severe Malnutrition
• Treated 225 cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition.

How You Can Make a Difference

With your help, Real Medicine Foundation can ensure a strong, healthy, and hopeful future for India’s children.  Click on the Donate button below or visit our website donor page here.

• $25 – Buys a month’s supply of life saving nutrient rich formula
• $50 – Provides a month’s supply of food to a mother during the course of her child’s treatment
• $100 – Treats a child with dangerous complications from malnutrition
• $500 – Buys an outdoor playground and recreation area for children
• $800 – Provides new mattresses for the NRC
• $1,000 – Supports an organic kitchen garden providing fresh fruits and vegatables for the Center

For much more in depth information, please visit the special Malnutrition Eradication page on our website here.

For more information about RMF’s Malnutrition Eradication Program in India, click here.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or become a fundraiser for us at Causes.com

To contribute to this initiative, please visit our website at realmedicinefoundation.org.