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The Zero Hunger Program has a profoundly positive impact on the lives of women and children in Africa. This program provides life-saving interventions to various vulnerable groups, including pregnant and lactating women, infants, people with disabilities, individuals dealing with mental health struggles, the elderly, those living with HIV, and people admitted in hospitals.
We connect with the most vulnerable in diverse settings, including hospitals, schools, refugee camps and settlements. Here are a few accounts from among the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been touched by the Zero Hunger Program.
Umar is an 11-month-old infant. His mother, Maryam, is a caring mother of 6 children who lives with her family at Janga village in Fune, Yobe State. When her family friends from Dogon Rijiya visited her village for a wedding ceremony, she overheard them talking about the distribution of nutrition supplements for children, pregnant and lactating women. Excited by the information, Maryam visited the Damagum Primary Healthcare Center, where Umar’s Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) reading revealed acute malnutrition. He was then referred to the nearest Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) for treatment. Maryam received guidance on complementary feeding and recognizing malnutrition signs in her children. Umar made a full recovery in 6 weeks and continued to receive nutritional supplements.
Amina is a 3-year-old girl living with her family in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) settlement in Yobe State. Her mother, Fatimah, joined the Zero Hunger Program while pregnant to receive nutritional supplements and became part of a mother-to-mother support group in the IDP community. Through this support group, we identified an unusual condition in Amina, who had developed Macroglossia, an enlargement of the tongue. Her mother revealed that Amina had been struggling with this issue for over a year, leading to severe malnutrition as she couldn’t eat. We promptly referred her to the Yobe State Specialist Hospital for treatment and continued with follow-up visits until she made a full recovery.
Furera, a mother of two from Gulani, Yobe State, endured the ravages of war and flooding in her community. She suffered injuries when her house was destroyed during heavy rainfall, leading to her admission at Yobe Specialist Hospital. The flood caused her family to lose nearly all their belongings and left them displaced, with no means to secure food, resulting in severe malnutrition. Furera’s condition became critical, and she was close to death. During her hospital stay, nurses referred her to the Zero Hunger Program’s office in the hospital, where she received healthy food packets and micronutrient supplementation. After two weeks, Furera made a full recovery, and her family was very pleased with the intervention.
Miriam is a 30-year-old mother of four children and an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) from Gulani, Yobe State. She lives in an informal IDP camp in Fune village with her family. Miriam registered with the program while pregnant with her fourth child and started receiving nutritional supplements for pregnant and lactating women. After giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, she continued to take the supplements and engage with our community staff through mother-to-mother support groups. Miriam has reported a notable difference in her energy levels during this fourth pregnancy compared to her previous ones. Thanks to the supplements, her child’s health is significantly better than that of her other children at a similar age. The program was perfectly timed and gave her support in breastfeeding and complementary feeding, and also ensured her child received full immunization against the five common killer diseases in her village.
Yagana Lawan, the officer in charge of reproductive health services in Fune district of Yobe State during an interview applauded the Zero Hunger Program. She commended the program for significantly increasing the attendance of pregnant mothers at Antenatal Care, resulting in the highest number of hospital-based deliveries ever recorded in the area. The nutritional status of pregnant women visiting the facility has also notably improved since they began taking Zero Hunger Program food supplements. Yagana Lawan observed that these women appear visibly healthier and happier!
