Nutrition – how important is it?
Certain small villages have higher occurrence of malnutrition compared to others. There are several reasons for this; one is lack of resources and the second is lack of education and awareness. VFV sets up the Nutrition Project to help address the issue on malnutrition. The provision of nutritious meals aims to reduce the occurrence of malnutrition and reduce absenteeism among preschool and school-age children. Additionally, the project endeavors to educate parents and the community the value of proper nutrition and impact on overall health. Kind donors allow VFV to continue helping reduce malnutrition in its areas of operation.
Brgy. Lapay is small community in the municipality of Tanauan, Leyte in which VFV operates. VFV has a successful relationship with the community’s local elementary school that was forged after years of active collaboration. Lapay Elementary School accommodates volunteer teachers deployed by VFV. Last year, one of the school’s former volunteers decided to support two of his best pupils in terms of their education.
VFV chose Lapay Elementary School as the newest site of its School-based Nutrition Project. The project started in July 2019. Thirty pupils who are identified as undernourished were selected to be part of the year-long Nutrition Project. Additionally, most of them come from low income families.
VFV’s long time partner, the international school Dulwich College Seoul made it possible to set up the Nutrition Project. The most recent group of 12 students from the school this year raised funds to be able to feed these 30 pupils for one school year that started on July 2019 and will last until March 2020. VFV’s Community Program oversees the project, while the Volunteer Program assigns Nutrition Volunteers to prepare the meals for the pupils.