A corps member, Pharm. Abi Ruth Umume with State Code KT/23C/0803 attached to Turai Umaru Yar’Adua Maternity and Children Hospital Katsina has embarked on a project tagged ; *Little Lives Project.*
The project is aimed at combating malnutrition in children of Katsina State.
Abi has observed that Northern states in Nigeria are worse hit by malnutrition, which is the leading cause of childhood mortality in the region.
The Corps Member provides information about malnutrition, including it’s symptoms and prevention, as well as teaching the women how to prepare a local nutritional supplement from the available foodstuff in their locality.
The Corps Member has also distributed 400g of a locally prepared nutritional supplement to 40 malnourished children of within the age of 6 months to 5 years.
Launching the project on Thursday, 29th August, 2024, in Bakuru village, Katsina, Pharm. Abi said that her place of primary assignment opened her eyes to the problem.
She explained that individuals and even the state government brings materials (delivery kits) to assist pregnant women, but malnourished children did not have as much attention and support.
In her words… “In my place of primary assignment, I observed that many stakeholders are involved in working towards improving maternal health, including the state government, but there is no enough attention for malnourished children…”
I want to do something different for the children…, ” she said.
The NYSC Katsina State coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim SAIDU, commended the Corps Member and enjoined stakeholders to always provide support for Corps Members willing to execute projects in their communities.
The coordinator, who was represented by the head of CDS, Mallam Samaila Suleiman, told the people that any project executed by Corps Members is for the people of Katsina state.
In attendance were the head of the pharmacy department at Turai Umaru Yar’Adua Maternity and Children Hospital, Pharm. Abdulkadir Hamza, and the head of the health centre at Bakuru village in KATSINA (Bishir Hassan), NYSC Officials, and other Corps Members from the Medical and Health Team/Red Cross CDS Group.