Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation, Inc.

The main goal of the Libras de Amor Integral Nutritional Program, now known as the Early Childhood Development Program is to reduce the indices of malnutrition in children under the age of 5 who live in the most affected rural communities of El Salvador and to promote activities that aid a child to develop to his/hers greatest potential.

The strategies behind this program are based on the transformation of an individual by encouraging and exploring their highest potential and knowledge. This is accomplished by a series of interventions by our professional team of doctors, nurses and nutritionists who live in the communities where the program is being implemented. The program not only contemplates the child but also the family as a whole as it is they who will in turn ensure the success of the program. There are three main strategies that are implemented in this program. These are: Access and Accessibility to Food, Healthy Child Rearing Practices and Nutrition. This program contemplates an exit strategy after 5 to 7 years of involvement in each community. It is believed that after this period of time, residents will have learned new ways to raise their children thus allowing the community to go forward with the knowledge gained. The foundation will continue to monitor progress but not be involved in day to day activities.

Thirty-seven years of serving the less fortunate in El Salvador have given the foundation the ability and capabilities to be part of the changing fabric of the communities we serve. Where the Early Childhood Development Program is concerned, foundation leaders decided 17 years ago that to create a big impact in the lives of those being served that we needed to create a program that would have long-lasting and permanent changes. To us, nutrition was the most important as it is the first step towards a child's achievement of full development. Without proper nutrition, a child's opportunities for growth are limited.

The accomplishments of this program are numerous. In the Community of Guaymango there are 26 municipalities, 14 villages, and 56 hamlets and the program lasted from 2008 until 2020, the results were very encouraging. During this time, 11,626 families participated in the program that included 14,553 children under the age of 5; as well as 1,608 expecting mothers. More than 3,400 activities were performed by our in-country staff during these 12 years of service.

Some of the indicators that are worth noticing: Chronic malnutrition went from 41% to 25%. Anemia went from 40% to 10%. Exclusive breastfeeding went from 70% to 96%. Children with proper development went from 72% to 91%. Just as an example, in the first community we began the Libras de Amor Program in 2004, the rate of malnourished children was 47% and by 2019 89% percent of children born had adequate weight.

In 2020 we began working in a new community of El Salvador called California and Puerto el Triunfo in the State of Usulutan. Here we have done a baseline and determined that 17% of children under two in California and 26% in Puerto El Triunfo are suffering from anemia. As we begin work in these two communities it is our goal to lower those indices as much as possible by implementing strategies that have been successful in the program.