We have all seen the horrific images of severely malnourished children with huge bellies, glassy eyes, and sticks for arms and legs. The problem can seem overwhelming. How can we truly help such children? The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation and its founder, Olga Murray, have found a simple, effective way that transforms these heartrending children into bouncy, active little people within the space of a month or two. And our approach keeps the problem from recurring. Nepal is not the Sudan, yet half the children under five are malnourished and poor nourishment is one of the leading causes of death for young children. Often, the problem is less one of poverty than of ignorance.

In 1998, NYOF opened the doors of the first Nutritional Rehabilitation Home (NRH) in Kathmandu to nurse severely malnourished Nepali children back to health. Child and mother live together at the NRH during the course of treatment, usually about five to six weeks. While we rehabilitate the children, we educate their mothers in how to prepare nutritious meals using foods readily available in rural Nepal. The mothers are also instructed in how to pass on their knowledge to other mothers after they return to their villages.

After the mother and child are discharged, field workers follow up in the villages to check on the child's health and to ensure that the mother is not only practicing what she has learned but is also educating other women in the community about nutrition and other good child care practices.

Talk about instant gratification! Most of the children come to us unable to smile or play or react to anything—lacking any of the spark that defines a child. It is not long before they are more alert and active, and after a few weeks they are running about and playing. Their mothers also leave us with renewed health as well as nutritional education.

In 2002, we moved the NRH from its first home—the cramped fourth floor of a tall building that also housed a clinic—to a spacious house set on a nice piece of land that we have turned into a vegetable garden. The NRH is walking distance from Kanti Children's Hospital, which works closely with us in referring children and mothers and helping with their medical problems. We also expanded the staff to keep pace with demand. Over 20 mother/child pairs at a time can now stay at the NRH, and we can serve about 220 pairs per year. Not only that, we have established five more NRHs in outlying areas so that children throughout the country will be helped, and we are in the process of constructing three additional NRHs.

It costs only $340 to restore the health or save the life of a child, empower and train the mother, and prevent the problem from happening again. That’s about the cost of a couple of visits to the doctor in the U.S. We are very grateful to the dZi FOUNDATION for its ongoing support of the Kathmandu NRH. Their generosity has saved the lives of many children.

This program is unique in Nepal. It is, quite literally, saving the lives of severely malnourished Nepali children and preventing mental or physical retardation in many others. By involving the mothers in this process, the outcomes have built-in sustainability.

The NRH has succeeded beyond expectations, serving over 2500 mother/child pairs to date. Each year, 700-800 children's lives are transformed at the NRH.

Read on for how the Nutritional Rehabilitation Home began and how it operates.

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