The End of Hunger by Jenny Eaton Dyer;Cathleen Falsani; & Jenny Eaton Dyer

Author:Jenny Eaton Dyer;Cathleen Falsani; & Jenny Eaton Dyer [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
Published: 2019-08-16T13:18:57+00:00

FROM HUNGER

TO HOLISTIC HEALTH

ELIZABETH URIYO AND CHRISTOPHER DELVAILLE

Adit weighed nine pounds (four kilograms) when a child development worker from a church in his village in Timor, Indonesia, met him and registered him into Compassion’s program. At nine pounds, Adit would be a healthy newborn. Adit was twenty months old.

Sadly, Adit’s mother died during childbirth from complications brought about by severe anemia. Desperate for work, Adit’s father fled to another island, leaving his son with his impoverished parents, who fed Adit watered-down porridge twice a day.

Adit had a lung infection and was severely malnourished during this critical time in his development, when he should have weighed twenty-two to thirty-two pounds.1 The child development worker facilitated hospitalization and the administration of a ninety-day therapeutic feeding plan consisting of five to six daily nutritional feedings.

The risks to Adit’s survival were real. Protracted hunger leads to malnutrition and stunting in children. Hunger is both physical and socioemotional. Physical pain and weakness are accompanied by feelings of anxiety about availability and accessibility of food (food insecurity), alienation, and deprivation, which adversely impact familial and social interactions.2 In 2016, globally, 5.6 million children under five died, many from preventable causes. It is estimated that malnutrition contributed to 45 percent of these deaths.3 During this period, 815 million people globally were food insecure and malnourished, 60 percent of whom lived in conflict-stricken countries.4 The highest populations were in Southeast Asia (64 percent), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (30 percent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (5 percent).

The Sustainable Development Goal of achieving “zero hunger” by 2030 is inextricably linked to elimination of extreme poverty.5 This entails agricultural transformations to double productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers, as well as improving food systems, empowering rural communities (women and men alike), investing in infrastructure, and addressing access to land, financing, and markets to build resilient communities.6 Since over 70 percent of the world’s extreme poor live in rural communities where agriculture is their livelihood and about 60 percent of food consumed in developing countries is produced on small family farms, it’s imperative that investments in science and technology deliver solutions that increase productivity while protecting the environment.7

In 2017, the General Assembly of the United Nations agreed that a global holistic response is vital since sustainable development is unattainable without peace. In times of nationalism it’s essential to address the root causes of conflict and send clear messages of hope.8 The General Assembly emphasized the importance of using platforms that involve all segments of society (including government, religious, and scientific communities) and that recognize the role of youth and women as change agents in poverty eradication and sustainable development.9

Working to end holistic hunger (spiritual, physical, and socioemotional depravation) is one aspect of Compassion’s programs. Adit is among two million children who are known, loved, and protected by a local Compassion church partner. The church, the triumphant bride of Christ, is God’s vessel bringing hope to poor, oppressed, and abandoned children such as Adit.

Adit has responded well to treatment and today is an energetic three year old.

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