There are currently 3 programs that we are partnered with at the MHC. The first is through the delivery of Basic Medical Supplies to the local center. Those things that are taken for granted here in the USA are those things coveted in the RDC. We are currently partnered with several organizations in providing supplies to the MHC. Regularly we are bringing boxes of supplies to this community and seeing the changes that are coming from proper medical care. With the Fill the Crate Campaign (link to it), we are able to bring supplies in much larger bulk, providing communities with opportunities to see changes in the Health and wellness of its members. Daily we have the access to the basic needs, able to afford them without a second thought but this privilege is not the norm throughout the RDC. Daily families and children go without the proper care that is needed because either they cannot afford it or it is simply not available. This MUST change.

The second and third programs go hand in hand, opening the door to interact with the community, while providing for their basic needs. Nutrition is vital to the survival of a community and the ability for it to thrive. The MHC currently has had to have cutbacks in its feeding program, leading to the starvation and malnutrition of many children in this community. Currently operating only 2 feedings per week, on Wednesday and one Friday, many of these children are going 5 days until the next time they eat. Adding additional feedings is currently underway, and is very inexpensive to support. Currently, 380 children are being fed these 2 days but the basic cost of this is still too much. One would thing this was expensive, but the cost is $50 to feed 380 kids for one day. With the 2-3 additional feedings we are adding, we will se a much more rounded, and evenly spaced, diet for the youth of this community.

The third programs fits well with this. EDUCATION, both for HIV/AIDS and for nutrition. Educating the parents of these kids will allow this knowledge to be passed down. HIV and AIDS have wreaked havoc on this community, leading to the inability to work and provide the basic needs for their families. This in-turn results in the malnutrition of their families and the need for nutritional programs for regular feeding. This vicious cycle could be stopped if the education on AIDS was widespread, teaching that these people, men and women, can still be a vital part of the community and that AIDS is not a death sentence, but instead a warning to bring change in their lives. Each person can still work, provide for their families and be active in educating the c0pmmunity on their situation, how it can be prevented, treated and ultimately stopped.