Shoulder To Shoulder Inc

Mile 1: Honduras

Gisela runs local nutritional clinics to help mothers care for their youngest and most vulnerable children. For just $20, Gisela can provide a year supply of nutritional supplements to a malnourished child. This is life changing!
US$1,850
raised
Event: Walk a Mile, from 19 September 2018 to 31 December 2020
RCN 311487319

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Story

"Gisela walks between villages in the poorest region of Honduras to run nutritional programs for malnourished children. She walks hours (literally hours) everyday in the boiling sun on insanely steep gravel roads. She visits 60 villages and reaches over 2800 kids.

In each village, the mothers meet at a gathering point with their children under the age of 5. Gisela measures and weighs each child individually, records their growth, and if they are malnourished or losing weight, she gives nutritional supplement powder to the mother. This power mixes with water to create a nutrient-dense, high calorie drink which helps the child gain weight.

I walked for ONE DAY with Gisela...two hours to visit one village. I was sweating, exhausted, and sore. I got a wave of heat stroke and had to sit down and hydrate. Gisela does this 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

The nutritional program reaches the poorest of the poor. Infant mortality is incredibly high because families cannot afford enough food and have no access to doctors when their child shows signs of sickness. They live far up in the mountains, a no-mans land with limited access to food or water. The poverty is horrendous, some of the hardest conditions I've ever seen. One mother invited us to her tiny one-room home. No door, one bed, dirt floor for a family of 9. This blows my mind. She had a 5-month old newborn, and when I asked her where she delivered her daughter, she pointed to the floor below me. Can you even imagine?

It costs only $20 to provide a year supply of nutritional powder for one child. $20 FOR A WHOLE YEAR! Such a simple solution yet still so unattainable for these families. Please, reach into your pockets for just a simple $20. It will help Gisela on her incredible quest and help this region one child at a time."

About the charity

In 1990, Dr. Jeff Heck of the University of Cincinnati Family Medicine Department in collaboration with the people of Santa Lucia, Intibucá began providing health care services in rural Intibuca, Honduras. This work became Shoulder to Shoulder, a private, non-profit, non-governmental organization. In a spirit of collaboration and empowerment, Shoulder to Shoulder and local community leaders formed Hombro a Hombro, a grassroots, community-based, non-profit NGO registered in Honduras since 1998. Shoulder to Shoulder and Hombro a Hombro work together, guided by a single vision, united in a single mission. Vision: People of the frontera, known as the Dry Corridor of Intibucá, Honduras, live longer, healthier, more productive and fulfilling lives in a strong community. Mission: To work together with our communities to create, implement, and operate equitably accessible, sustainable health, nutrition, and education services.

Donation summary

Total raised
US$1,850.00
Online donations
US$1,850.00
Offline donations
US$0.00
Direct donations
US$1,850.00
Donations via fundraisers
US$0.00

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