Liz and I did a brief presentation on malnutrition during tonight's group discussion. It's such a difficult problem to address and manage because so many factors come into play - economic, environmental, political, etc. How do we break the intergenerational transmission of poverty and malnutrition? And whose responsibility is it it, if the families themselves are too impoverished or uneducated to take steps that would stop the cycle? Even when government or charity groups attempt to initiate programs that address malnutrition, you have to wonder whether their work is sustainable and able to create lasting change...or whether they are even following through on those claims. USAID & Mercy Corps have a program here called PROCOMIDA that asserts the government is "bolstering" the work of local health facilities. Given our experience in every community surrounding San Lucas Toliman, I am inclined to be skeptical about the actual follow-through for these programs. Clinics lack the funds to stay stocked with even the most basic of medications and the most I have seen in terms of nutrition programs sponsored through the clinics are some hand drawn posters that line their walls, hardly the effort you would expect of international aid organizations or national government.
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