Haiti: Life saving food for malnourished children
St. Louis nonprofit works to feed Haiti victims
Haiti Dispatch
Doug Moore
Friday, Jan. 22, 2010
At the Meds & Food for Kids factory in Cap-Haitien on Haiti’s northern coast, founder Dr. Patricia Wolff of St. Louis is seeing the devastating effects of last week’s Port-au-Prince earthquake make their way in her direction.
Cities that escaped quake damage throughout Haiti are playing host to hundreds of victims who arrive in need of food, shelter and medical care. Cap-Haitien, about 80 miles away from the epicenter in Port-au-Prince, is no different.
“I just had a visit from a Baptist minister who says he has 39 kids with kwashiorkor (malnutrition from lack of protein) about 10 miles from here,” Wolff, a pediatrician, said by e-mail on Thursday. “I will visit in the next day or two.”
Wolff, a professor of clinical pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine, founded the nonprofit Meds & Food for Kids in 2003 and has been in Haiti since Sunday overseeing production of Medika Mamba, a mixture of peanuts, powdered milk, oil and vitamins. Demand for the product is spiking, she said, as victims struggle to find food. Medika Mamba can be served out of the container without any preparation.
On Thursday, two truckloads of Medika Mamba were sent to a Baptist mission and to St. Damien Hospital outside of Port-au-Prince, as workers at the factory made another 1,100 pounds for distribution.
“But we’re running out of boxes and have to fix the car before it will tolerate the trip all the way to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) to pick up the boxes,” Wolff said in a message sent from her iPhone.
Wolff, who generally splits her time between Haiti and St. Louis, will likely extend her two-week stay well into February.
Wolff said that today, she will visit a gymnasium where some of the victims have been relocated and talk with the mayor about needs.
“On the plus side,” Wolff said, “the weather is good here.”
Donations to Wolff’s nonprofit can be made through the website, mfkhaiti.org, or by calling 314-420-1634.
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