Reducing Malnutrition among Orphans in Ghana

AmeriCares One Child One World™ Program

AmeriCares has continued its work to improve the nutritional, health and hygiene conditions of orphaned and vulnerable children in 30 residential homes in Ghana through its One Child One World™ program, launched in 2011 in partnership with Hope for All Foundation and the Youth and Social Enterprise Fund. Today the program is serving 1,800 newborns and children up to age 18, an increase of 20 percent since it started, and the number of course treatments of nutritional supplements has grown four-fold. Vaccinations have been administered for both the orphans and their caregivers.

To improve the quality of care, AmeriCares has developed standardized caregiver training, in partnership with Ghana Health Services and the Department of Social Welfare, and has already trained more than 100 caregivers.

In addition to continuing with the ongoing delivery of nutritional, health and hygiene support, the program going forward will focus on the completion of caregiver training and the formation of a caregivers’ association to advocate on behalf of orphans, vulnerable children and their caregivers. The program will also continue to investigate local sources of sustainable nutrition for the participating homes, working in partnership with the Ghana Health Services, the University of Ghana Nutrition Department, and other corporate partners.

The founder and head of the Royal Seed Home in Tema, Ghana, Naomi, knows exactly how it feels to be a street child – she herself was one. Now, she has dedicated her life to helping children who are just like her and with the aid of the One Child One World™ program, she is able to address the issues of malnutrition among the children in her home.

The AmeriCares One Child One World™ program in Ghana works to address the nutritional and health needs of vulnerable children living in orphanages across the country. Now in its third year, the pilot phase of the program is targeting 30 homes across the country that serve 1,800 children and their 300 caregivers.

When she was a teenager, Naomi began taking in younger street children to share her one-room apartment and train them in dressmaking. “These children are just like me,” she explained, “They grow up outside society and they have no social protection. We all have the same story.”

Naomi’s inspiration to start the Royal Seed Home came to her in a dream where she was feeding an endless line of street children. She woke up knowing that was her calling in life. She immediately began raising funds to establish her home. 

Results from the program baseline show that 29% of children living in homes are considered underweight and 17% are considered “wasting,” or extremely underweight. These levels are about twice the levels found among Ghanaian children outside of homes. 

AmeriCares partners with Hope for All Foundation and the Youth and Social Enterprise Fund to deliver fortified meals and nutritional supplements to strengthen the nutritional status of the children. To date, more than 100 caregivers have been trained in child development, basic health and hygiene and nutrition. AmeriCares has also delivered more than 5,000 course treatments of nutritionals and over 517,000 XANGO meals since the project began.