Bundi Nutrition is Back

July 10th was a day I had been eagerly anticipating for about 16 months. After leaving Bundibugyo temporarily for health reasons, a lot of changes occurred within the nutrition program and due to lack of team members and Ugandan employees, the program was closed down. When I returned in January, I had planned to restart the program with the help of my new teammate, Dr. Jessica.

As we assessed the previous program—its successes and failures—and dreamed about what we wanted to do, I became more and more excited. Of course, this is still Bundi, so there were plenty of roadblocks and delays. But finally, on July 10th, we launched our Bundi Nutrition Outpatient Program.

Now, three weeks into the program, there have been a lot of frustrations, surprises, and encouragement. Jess and I have been learning together the ins and outs of starting a program from scratch (thank goodness for some infrastructure laid from the previous program though!), managing a new employee, trying to balance American expectations with the Ugandan culture we live in.

While malnutrition is an overwhelming and daunting problem here, I am encouraged. I am happy to see parents consistently bringing their child to the program. I am thrilled to see them engaged and paying attention to the Bible and public health lessons each week—asking questions and voicing their concerns. And seeing super cute babies each week is a perk to the job too :)

We can certainly use your prayers—that these kids would gain weight and move out of the moderate acute malnutrition zone, that parents would put what they learn to practice and share it with their community, that hearts might be changed through Bible lessons, that God would give us a vision for ways to expand the program and make it more sustainable in the future. As you pray, ask God if you might have a role in partnering with this program. If the answer is yes, email me or click here.