Hershey, PBSP hold supplemental feeding in Baseco
Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2019 06:04:33 +0000
LIFE has been difficult for Mary Ann Razos, a mother of eight from Baseco, Manila who has to work hard to support her children.
At exactly two in the morning, she wakes up and begins her day by storing water, preparing food for her children, and cleaning their small sari-sari store which also doubles as their house. Then, she goes to the market in Divisoria to buy goods to sell. In the afternoon, she washes the clothes of her neighbors to earn a little extra money.
It is not easy for Razos to raise more than half a dozen of children with only P100 to P300 in her wallet every day. Because of this, she could not give her children nutritious food every day, as much as she wants to. Her five-year-old son, Jhancel has suffered the most from malnutrition.
According to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the chronic malnutrition rate among Filipino children aged zero to five was at 19.1 percent in 2018. Most of these children belong to the poorest of the population. These children have to suffer long periods of hunger.
Luckily, Jhancel was chosen as one of the beneficiaries of the “Nourishing Minds—The Filipino Way” project of The Hershey Company (THC), in partnership with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). Established in 2015, the project aims to support the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, and SDG 3 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for malnourished children in Baseco, Manila.
During the projct’s Year 5 launch, THC top officials and employees visited the beneficiaries at the Manila Daycare Center Cluster 5 and 6 to see how the program has improved the health and academic performance of the children.
“We feel honored to be able to serve the community and to be part of their lives. As we see the children, they are healthy and very happy. We are very thankful that they share their lives with us,” said Jill Broschard, THC vice president for global services.
The children performed a production number to show their gratitude to their benefactors.
THC and PBSP top officials also paid a courtesy call on Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Manila Department of Social Welfare (MDSW) chief Asuncion Fugoso.
Mayor Domagoso, who grew up in Tondo, said that initiatives like the supplemental feeding program make their jobs easier because it provides a big help to communities like Baseco
For Mary Ann and her son Jhancel, the supplemental feeding program is a big help to their family. After the 120-day feeding program, Jhancel’s weight did not only improve but his school performance a well. He was even awarded as the most improved pupil in the daycare during the recognition ceremonies last March.
“Before, Jhancel was very thin, pale, and malnourished. He was usually admitted in the hospital due to pneumonia or dehydration. But since he joined the feeding program, Jhancel learned to eat vegetables, especially carrots and potatoes. The feeding program was really a great help, especially to every mother in the daycare center who do not have enough money to give their children healthy meals every day,” Razos said.
For her family, this intervention is even more significant as Manila Daycare Center Teacher Ana Bachoco gives Razos and other parents excess food from the supplemental feeding program.
The parents were taught how to prepare nutritious food and were tasked to cook the children’s food in the daycare’s kitchen which THC also provided.
No matter how busy she is, Razos makes it a point to always help, whether in cleaning the daycare center, washing dishes after the feeding program, and collecting all its garbage.
For her, the feeding program gave so much more than it intended to provide. Apart from helping her son become healthy and perform well in school, it has put food on their table often, and has empowered Razos to become a better mother and a reliable parent-ally to the school.
The Nourishing Minds project of THC, in partnership with PBSP, has nourished more than 880 pupils, renovated and maintained a daycare center, and educated 680 women through safe motherhood and supplemental feeding programs since 2015.