![Valparaiso University Homepage [logo]](http://www.valpo.edu/images/template01/valpo.gif)
Mission Nutrition: World Relief Campaign 2007
Click to find out how to donate
or offer other support
WE DID IT! THANK YOU!
We made our goal!! The $10,000 has been raised!! Thanks to your help the community of Bundibugyo, Uganda, will have all the resources to start their own food program.
The money will pay for recipe trials to find a recipe using local foods that can be mass produced; for the training of community members in food distribution, nutrition, and child weight management; and for goats, chickens, groundnut, etc. that will be raised to provide resources for many years to come.
This project would not have been possible without your help, so, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. You have helped save countless lives of the children in Bundibugyo.
RESOURCES FOR GATHERING SUPPORT
Are you interested in spreading the word about Mission Nutrition to individuals and congregations across the world? Download and print these documents so you have a complete set of information.
Print out letters to congregations and individuals asking for their support of Mission Nutrition! (Microsoft Word format)
Download the Case Statement (includes the information on this webpage) in Microsoft Word format.
Download a set of three Donation Slips to include with mailed donations in Microsoft Word format. Checks may be mailed to this address.
A CASE FOR SUPPORT
Do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "You know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
~ John 21:15
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
~James 2:15
Introduction and Executive Summary
The Social Action Leadership Team (SALT) is the Spirit-led social justice ministry of the Chapel of the Resurrection in which students in community seek to embody the Christian call to be the ‘salt of the earth’ (Matt. 5:13). Taking seriously this call, SALT students develop and practice a Christian theology of social action, and raise awareness and encourage a Christian response to social justice issues.
As an essential part of this mission, SALT partners with both international and local communities in order to address critical needs within those areas. Every year for the past two decades, SALT has selected a specific project in need of funding and organized a fund-raising campaign around it known as the World Relief Campaign (WRC). These projects may vary greatly in location and type but consistently offer a sustainable asset to the selected community. Once the project and target monetary goal are established, SALT works to educate and organize the campus and the city in order to both increase awareness of the need within that region and raise funds. Begun and completed during each spring semester, the World Relief Campaign is a fast-paced and large-scale fundraising drive.
SALT is excited to announce that the 2007 WRC, titled “Mission Nutrition,” will benefit the people of Bundibugyo ( boon deh boo gee oh) , Uganda. This campaign will fund a three-part nutrition project that will create nutritional recipes using local foods, train community members in the distribution of these food, and provide a base of local foods that are self-replicating and can be used to meet the community’s needs for years to come.
A Brief History of Uganda
Uganda is a relatively small landlocked country located in the heart of the great African high plateau that rolls from the Ethiopian highlands towards southern Africa. It is bordered by Sudan to the north, Kenya to the East, Congo to the West, and Rwanda and Tanzania to the South. Though small in size, slightly smaller than Oregon, it is rich in traditions and heritage. Culturally and historically, it is a major crossroads between two distinct peoples, the Bantu farmers and the Nilotic cattle herders. Today, the people of Uganda are still primarily people of the land. E ighty percent of its population is employed in agriculture, and coffee provides the bulk of its export revenues.
However, though fertile and beautiful, this is a land with a long history of political instability, beginning with the arrival of Europeans in 1862. Within a decade of their arrival, the factions the Europeans created among the people broke into civil war. By 1896, the land had become a British protectorate and was given the name Uganda. Uganda became an independent nation in 1962, but that government was soon overthrown in 1966 by Prime Minister OBETE, ushering in an era of coups and counter-coups lasting until the mid-1980s. Since that time it has continued to be the site of much political unrest, which has created great need and terror in its people.
The most recent insurgences were headed up by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a diverse coalition of a few hundred fighters from the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU), Islamists from the Salaf Tabliq group, Hutu militiamen, and fighters from ousted regimes in Congo. The conglomeration of fighters formed in 1995 in opposition to the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The ADF used the kidnapping and murder of civilians to create fear in the local population and undermine confidence in the government. The group was suspected to be responsible for dozens of bombings in public areas. A Ugandan military offensive in 2000 destroyed several ADF camps, but ADF attacks continued in Kampala in 2001.
World Harvest Mission and Bundibugyo
World Harvest Mission (WHM) is a Christ-centered Non-Government Organization, which has been serving people across the world since 1983. Today it has 140 missionaries serving on five continents. WHM has had presence in Bundibugyo District of Uganda for over fifteen years.
Bundibugyo, which is in southwest Uganda and borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the poorest districts in Uganda, with no locally supplied electricity or paved roads. It is also still recovering from Allied Democratic Force (ADF) rebel attacks in 1997, which resulted in large displacement of people from rural villages and gardens into makeshift camps near trading centers. This displacement resulted in over-crowding, unsanitary conditions, and food shortages. In 2003, WHM, under Karen Masso’s leadership, established a supplementary feeding center, operated out of the local health center ( Nyahuka Health Center). Children are eligible for the program if they are under five years old and either already malnourished (under 80% weight-for-length according to World Health Organization growth charts) or if they are at-risk for malnutrition because of being HIV positive or motherless). Eligible children were given a ration of corn-soy blend flour, sugar, and vegetable oil provided by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The children returned to the program biweekly for additional rations and to monitor their growth and overall health. As of October 2006, 196 children were enrolled in the program, and 400 had been discharged in the last year because they had achieved 80% weight for height.
However, the situation in this area changed this past November when WFP withdrew from Bundibugyo, because WFP only serves in warring nations. The World Harvest Mission, knowing that an end to rebel attacks does not mean that the struggles of the people are solved, desires to transform their former efforts into a more locally based and community run nutrition program. By utilizing more locally based foods and training local community members, the people of Bundibugyo will be empowered to save the lives of their malnourished children. Therefore, SALT is honored to partner with World Harvest Mission to care for the dietary needs of the children of Bundibugyo and provide a sustainable food program that empowers the people.
Mission Nutrition
Once the money is raised, World Harvest Mission will implement the new food program in three phases. First the people of Bundibugyo will conduct recipe trials to establish a standard recipe for a calorie and protein-rich complementary food made from local ingredients. World Harvest Mission staff member Karen Masso, nutritionist Stephanie Jilcott, and a local district health official will work closely together to identify local, culturally appropriate, and nutritious ingredients. They will present these ingredients to 10-20 community cooks, who will work in groups to create a palatable and feasible recipe for mass scale replication for the nutrition program. The cooks will be given food incentives for participation and will be instructed to use specific proportions of staple, protein, and fat sources to ensure nutrient balance in the recipe. The children in the program will taste-test foods to ensure that the selected recipe is palatable.
Next, the former program will be decentralized, branching out from the main health center, Nyahuka, to include three additional health centers. WHM will identify and train six community members in each of the four health center areas to administer the nutrition program. These community members will include two traditional birth attendants, two “expert clients” who have had children in the program and know its benefits, and two health center workers for each of the four health center areas (a total of 24 community members). They will be trained in five sessions on growth monitoring, identifying eligible children, record keeping, and healthy feeding practices for infants and young children, including promotion of the chosen recipe. The community members will receive incentives for attending each training session and a weekly ration as payment for program administration.
Finally, the new program mutual sharing and caregiver ownership. The new program will provide caregivers with ground nut seed or other seed, requiring that they plant the seed and bring a portion of the crop to be used for other program participants’ rations. Likewise the community will be given 1200 chickens and 12 goats, which will be cared for by local husbandry specialists. Caregivers will bring the firstborn goats back to the program after they are weaned. These will be given to other caregivers in the program. In addition, each of the four nutrition centers will receive a percentage of eggs that the chickens produce. These animals provide protein-rich food in relative abundance, which can keep cycling back into the nutrition program. Caregivers will use these foods to produce the selected recipe in mass quantities to be distributed to the children. This program is ideal for the local community, because two resources caregivers do have, despite financial constraints, are time and energy to improve children’s health.
Given the current numbers, World Harvest Mission expects to serve 450 malnourished or at risk children in 12 week cycles, meaning a total of 1800 children will be fed from June 2007 to May 2008.
Goals
The intended outcome of the 2007 WRC: Mission Nutrition is threefold:
1) First, SALT has set a monetary goal of $10,000 to be raised by May 2007, which will be used to fund a nutrition project in Bundibugyo, Uganda.
2) Second, SALT is seeking to education the University and City of Valparaiso communities about Uganda, its culture and people, and the effects of malnutrition and poverty in Africa and worldwide.
3) Finally, SALT hopes to equip and inspire student leaders to become lifelong activists, partnering them with successful community leaders and businesses to accomplish great things.
Partners and Supports
Thus far, the following individuals have joined with SALT to make this project possible:
Pastor Joseph Cunningham, Dean of the Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso University
Pastor James Wetzstein, Assistant Dean of the Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso University
Events and Fundraisers
Feb. 2-4: WRC Kick-off Weekend
Feb 16: Educational Dinner **Date changed from the 15th**
March 28: Celebrate Service
April 28: 5K Run
Opportunities for Offering Support
SALT gratefully accepts any personal and corporate monetary donations. Furthermore, campus and community social organizations are encouraged to plan fundraising events. Anyone interested in working directly with the project may attend upcoming on-campus fundraisers organized by SALT, as well as join our meetings on Tuesdays at 9:30pm in the Lumina Room of Huegli Hall. SALT welcomes opportunities to speak to campus groups, congregations, and community organizations. Finally, SALT invites you to pray for this worthy cause and seek opportunities to serve those in need in your community and around the world.
Donations may be directed to:
Barbara Hoover
Chapel of the Resurrection
Valparaiso, IN 46383
219.464.5093
*Checks payable to Valparaiso University with “Mission Nutrition” in the memo line
Questions may be directed to
Linda Davis, WRC Chair
Linda.Davis@valpo.edu
214.783.2921
Other Contact Information
World Harvest Mission Contacts:
Karen Masso, masso@iname.com
Dr. Stephanie Jilcott, stephjilcott@yahoo.com
World Harvest Mission Contact in Valparaiso: Jen.Butz@valpo.edu
Website: www.whm.org
Mission Nutrition Website: http://www.valpo.edu/chapel/saltwrc.php
Committee Leaders
Research: Rebekah.Schmerber@valpo.edu, Anna.Smith@valpo.edu,
Activities: Lauren.Calleo@valpo.edu, Abby.Lange@valpo.edu
Prospect Identification: Eric.Matul@valpo.edu, Marcus.Chaffee@valpo.edu
Records: Jeff.Field@valpo.edu, Erin.Westerman@valpo.edu
Archivist: Ty.Doering@valpo.edu
Additions
and corrections for this page may be directed to