Ground breaking began this week for the construction of the Medical Complex and Training Center for Childhood Nutrition and Treatment in Thomonde. Of the $422,000 donated so far, the University of Miami Rotaract raised $122,000.
The Medical Complex & Training Center will consist of three facilities: the Akamil Production Facility, the Childhood Nutrition Treatment Center and an education and training center. The complex is located near the community hospital on 4 acres of land.
The Akamil Production Facility will manufacture and distribute AKA1000, often referred to as Akamil, a mix of locally-grown products such as cereals (rice, corn, millet, wheat) and vegetables (beans) all blended into powder. It is a product of great nutritious value containing building and energetic nutrients, and is affordable to poor families. With the expert consultation of a nutritionist, the finished product will be fortified with a mix of important vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and Vitamin A.
Having been introduced in the 1970s, Akamil is well-known and accepted in Haiti. AK-1000 is an energetic and constructive food with a satisfying nutritional value that fills the deficits currently observed among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and TB/HIV patients in Haiti.
The Treatment Center of Advanced Childhood Malnutrition will collaborate with the full-service medical facility in Thomonde to stabilize and restore these childhood cases to the point where they can return home. Both the child and their caregiver will be housed in a designated residential section of the center for as long as three months. In addition, the center will offer follow-up care and referral as needed.
The center will also provide consistent, comprehensive nutrition education in collaboration with the community health medical team to help mitigate future cases.
The Education and Training Center will consist of a conference room, offices for the community health program administration, and lodging for visiting medical volunteers. The conference room and center will be the nutrition education site for all health workers in the central department. The second floor lodging will allow for hundreds of volunteers to spend extended periods of time in Haiti.
Project Medishare still needs to raise $1.4 million over the next three years to fund the project. Click here to donate now.
[…] 13th, 2007 by projectmedishare Walls are beginning to rise on the Medical Complex and Training Center for Childhood Nutrition and Treatment in Thomonde. Using money raised for the AK1000 project, Project Medishare hires locals from the […]
[…] Aug 16th, 2007 by projectmedishare Four Tallahassee college students travel to Haiti’s Central Plateau today to work with Thomonde’s mobile clinic team and visit the future site of the Medical Complex and Training Center for Childhood Nutrition and Treatment. […]
[…] in Haiti, but is fighting hunger and malnutrition. In May 2007, the organization broke ground on a new facility to house an Akamil processing plant, training center and lodging for visiting doctors, nurses and medical […]
[…] Akamil Nutrition and Training Facility in Thomonde ($225,000 needed to complete the construction) click here to donate to this project. […]
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