Amma Vodi
In Father Marneni’s own words:
The aim of this project is that every child deserves the best chance for a bright future and that is why we are fiercely committed towards ensuring that children not only survive, but thrive. We run this program in the most remote corner of India. Children are our future. The world will survive if the children survive. But it is not just about survival. All children not only have the right to live, but also to live their lives to the fullest potential. For that to happen, the children need to have a chance at a decent life. Even today, 11.2 lake children in India die before their first birthday. Every 25 seconds, a child under five years of age dies, mostly due to preventable causes such as infections and malnutrition. Most of these deaths occur due to preventable and treatable causes such as diarrhea and malnutrition. We go by the mantra, “no child is born to die”. So, we try to increase the survival rate of children between the ages of 0-5 years by reducing the levels of malnutrition among them and thus improve their lives and chances of survival. Hunger and undernourishment lead to severe problems.
Children and youth in this state suffer from numerous nutritional deficiencies which adversely impact their overall health. In India, data for 2015-2016 shows the following:
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38% of children below five years (urban: 31%, rural 41%) are stunted (low weight for age);
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21% (urban: 20%, rural: 22% are wasted (low weight for height);
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36% (urban: 29%, rural: 38% are underweight (low weight for age);
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2% were overweight in 2006 (about normal weight and height)
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58% of children aged between 6 to 59 months (urban: 56%, rural: 59%) are anemic.
Therefore we in this ‘mummy house’ (amma vodi) want to give basic food to small children and basic education to nursery and kindergarten children so that they fully develop mentally, physically, and educationally.
Father has recently began the building of ‘amma vodi’. It will take a long time, many donations and much prayer to complete this project.
Below are pictures of Father Marneni and some of the villagers blessing the ground where the Amma Vodi daycare center will be.
The Center is now complete!
View Our Work in Action for more photos!