![\"Paulino’s](\"https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2022\/03\/W015-0033-001-1280x853.jpg\")
After one month spent stabilizing Paulino’s weight, he was discharged from the clinic as he transitioned toward recovery. He continued to consume MANA three times daily for a month after returning home. In the next four months, Paulino’s weight and health increased as he recovered, and he gained nearly two and a half pounds. “I am very grateful that Paulino is healthy now and that he plays. I’m thankful to the people who gave the MANA,” says Cordelia.<\/p>\n
Hardship and hope in the region<\/h2>\n
Two years after Paulino’s recovery, his home area remains desolate with the adverse effects of cyclical drought. Over 1.5 million people in the region are experiencing food insecurity as the country faces its worst drought in 40 years. Crops wither with dryness, and again with excessive rain during the rainy season. This cycle leaves families with limited food, resulting in continued hunger and malnutrition in southwestern Angola.<\/p>\n
“If a child’s nutritional intake is not adequate in the first five years of life, assuming they survive, this can have disastrous consequences on the rest of their lives, impacting education outcomes and critical thinking abilities,” shares Isais as he emphasizes the importance of nutrition for young kids. “Detecting severe malnutrition as soon as possible, and administering therapeutic food, is a lifeline for these children.”<\/p>\n World Vision has trained staff at 90 health centers in Cunene on identifying malnutrition and treatment practices. Community health workers share health and nutrition messaging with families to equip them with knowledge that they can implement at home.<\/p>\n In response to dried-up water sources, World Vision equips the community to keep up and repair boreholes, helping areas maintain access to clean water. We promote diversity in family crop production and train families on improved methods to maintain soil upkeep after harvesting crops.<\/p>\n As access to food in local markets has reduced, we’ve introduced short-cycle crop varieties and promoted drought-tolerant crops. Each help communities recover, equipping families like Paulino’s to build resiliency for future natural disasters and periods of hardship.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suzy Sainovski formerly worked as a communicator for World Vision.<\/em><\/p>\n Amy Van Drunen of World Vision’s U.S. staff contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Drought in Angola burdens much of life. For Cordelia, it impacted her supply of food and in turn, her grandson Paulino became severely malnourished. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":81512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"country":[88],"filter":[176],"leader":[],"class_list":["post-81510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news-stories","country-angola","filter-from-the-field","tags-food-agriculture","tags-hunger","tags-malnutrition"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/wvusstatic.com\/www\/uploads\/2022\/03\/IMG_9137-1280x853.jpg\")