Survival-Paks
"The Gift of Life"
Beginning at Easter 2000, the Omega Foundation launched Operation ‘Survival-Pak’ in Calbayog City, Philippines, where hundreds of children from poor families literally fight for their survival. Children could be seen begging in the streets or desperately searching through the city's garbage dumps for food or anything of value which they may be able to sell.
With the help of doctors and health care workers in the Philippines, the project was developed to meet the needs of severely malnourished children, whose bodies were already too weakened and could no longer digest regular food. A Survival-Pak contains enough food for a small child to last for one month. In many cases, that is sufficient to restore the child’s health to the point where the boy or girl can eat normal food again. Hundreds of these life-saving packages have been distributed annually since the program began. Because this program has been a great success, it was made into an annual event at spring time.
With the help of doctors and health care workers in the Philippines, the project was developed to meet the needs of severely malnourished children, whose bodies were already too weakened and could no longer digest regular food. A Survival-Pak contains enough food for a small child to last for one month. In many cases, that is sufficient to restore the child’s health to the point where the boy or girl can eat normal food again. Hundreds of these life-saving packages have been distributed annually since the program began. Because this program has been a great success, it was made into an annual event at spring time.
The cost of a Survival-Pak is only $15.00,
a truly small investment in the life of a starving child!
Omega's President and Founder, Jay Rittker, with some of the children at the end of last year's Survival-Pak distribution.
|
This boy, standing next to his survival-pak, was very sickly and jaundiced.
Unbelievably, he is 13 years old, but because of his continued malnourished state, he looks like he is only about six years old. |
