MANILA, Philippines - It’s a partnership that spans nine years, with health and nutrition at the foundation of a program called Gabay Nutrisyon.
In 2005, representatives from Odyssey Foundation, the social arm of food company CDO Foodsphere, solicited the support of Unilab for its Gabay Nutrisyon program. Since then, they have been working together to relentlessly serve over 16,000 malnourished or underweight children, ages four to nine, in different parts of Luzon.
Through Gabay Nutrisyon, CDO-Foodsphere sponsors a community-based 64-day supplemental feeding program for malnourished children of low-income and marginalized settlers. The program started initially in Valenzuela City, then later expanded to Bulacan and Pampanga, and most recently to Malvar, Batangas.
During the feeding, CDO-Foodsphere employees, local mother-parent or barangay nutrition volunteers in the community prepare hot meals for a week based on Food and Nutrition Research Institute standards. Children beneficiaries are measured in weight and height to monitor their progress. The target is to be able to assist in feeding the children until their ideal weight is achieved, thereby promoting their physical and mental well-being.
Unilab, for its part, provides vitamins to supplement the feeding initiative. A spoonful of Tiki-tiki, Ceelin, Nutrilin or Enervon Syrup is given to each child after every meal.
Over the years, the partnership has undertaken other activities as well, with Unilab endorsing the Gabay Nutrisyon feeding initiative for implementation in Gawad Kalinga communities in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.
Odyssey Foundation also partnered with Unilab for its Bayanihan sa Kalusugan (BsK) program in Valenzuela City, a health development initiative to support barangay health centers in urban centers and rural health units in the provinces through the building of capabilities of its personnel, who in turn are expected to improve both health delivery performance and outcomes.
Currently, Unilab and Odyssey Foundation are working with the Valenzuela City Health Department to develop and produce a manual for Barangay Nutrisyon workers and volunteers to help instill nutritional education, identifying causes and effects of malnutrition; establishing clinical and domestic monitoring tools that track children’s growth development; and providing community initiatives that promote nutritional well-being and food sufficiency.
United in promoting the health and well-being primarily of children, the Unilab-CDO Foodsphere partnership has come a long way in improving the lives of beneficiaries. Indeed, it’s a partnership for keeps.