Deworming through Hope for Kidz!

The Hope for Kidz (HFKz) Deworming Initiative is one of my favorite times of the year!  It's may be just a small part of our HFKz child sponsorship program, but it has a huge impact. A small portion of the sponsorship funds covers this program. The exciting part is that it doesn't just effect the individual sponsored child, but we are able to treat every child in every HFKz school. We hope and pray that this enables all the students at each school to have improved health and therefore be better equipped to learn! This year, we've been able to include 15,365 people in this program!

Intestinal worms is always an ongoing health issue here in Haiti, yet prevention training and treatment is not complicated! Kids who have intestinal worms generally have poor nutrition (as the worms rob them of any vitamins they ingest), malaise and weakness, chronic cough, lack of focus and concentration and overall poor health. You can imagine how this affects a child's ability to learn and thrive in a school setting!

This past week, we hosted all the HFKz school directors at our office for a general HFKz meeting as well as the annual training and medication distribution for the deworming program. We give them educational materials that teach worm prevention (through good hygiene) and ask that each class receive this training each year. In addition, each student and teacher receives a yearly pill that eradicates any infection they may have. We teach each school director how to run a distribution clinic and they are all required to keep a record of each student who receives medication each year. Each school director is sent home with the medication and supplies necessary to ensure each child at each school is treated.

Worm prevention education and one pill a year doesn't sound like much, but it has a huge impact in a child's life and overall health, leading to a child who has an increased ability to learn. If you sponsor a child through the Hope for Kidz program, thank you for your part in this program that not only affects your sponsored child's health, but the health of all kids in his/her school.

To us, that's a win-win!

Becky
Hope For Kidz Liaison