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A widowed grandmother caring for her orphaned grandson explained, “Before he started the milk program he was sick and very thin but now he is big and active and he is healthy now. Even the neighbors are very surprised how he is doing because he was very small at the time his last parent, the father, died. At one time I thought he was going to die. I lost hope that he was going to live because his parents left him (died) when he was a very small tiny baby. I was full of fear. I didn't know what to do. Had it not been for the food and support we get from here it was going to be a very big problem to me.”
A nursing infant cannot survive without milk. A household trying to survive on $1 each day cannot afford even a single can of infant formula or even a small bottle of milk. When an infant has a safe place with family but is in danger because of lack of safe milk, the Milk and Medicine Program steps in. For the past six years, Milk and Medicine has been a lifeline of survival for infants whose mothers have either died, or have AIDS and cannot safely breastfeed. Currently, 136 babies and toddlers are receiving infant formula, food supplements, clothing and prescription medication, while their caregivers receive the Gospel, prayer and counseling.
Last spring Dr. Deb Sturtevant (Hope College, Michigan) and Dr. Jane Wimmer (Dalton College, Georgia) undertook an exhaustive scientific evaluation of our Milk and Medicine Program. The team spent two weeks in Zambia interviewing our social workers and other staff, community professionals and families who receive help through the program. Their findings have been compiled into a document that validates Milk and Medicine. It works!
 Children usually enter the Milk and Medicine Program as infants in need of formula. Approximately 40% of our mothers are HIV+ and cannot safely breastfeed. A high percentage of the children are orphans with many households being headed by elderly grandmothers. Relatives caring for these children are desperate to find nutrition to keep their babies alive.
Names and photos have been changed to protect the children. The stories are true.
You are invited to become a regular Milk & Medicine sponsor for a monthly gift of $20.
Other Milk & Medicine stories: Life Saving Milk Through a Child's Eyes
Triplets Chocoloate Strawberries
Rainy Season
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