Project Medishare's Akamil Factory Close to Completion

I sometimes see articles in small town newspapers about churches or schools sending food to Haiti.  The intention is good, but the impact is not - this is not how to promote food security.  Project Medishare takes a different approach by fighting hunger, creating jobs, and supporting the local economy at the same time.  Its Akamil factory, once operational, will produce fortified and highly nutritious food, from locally purchased ingredients, for malnourished children, pregnant women, and people living with tuberculosis and/or HIV/AIDS.  My hope is that this facility will be the first of many.  If you'd like to support this important effort, a link to Project Medishare's project fund-raising site is below.  

Dear Friends of Project Medishare,

Today is World Food Day, a day when the global community comes together to unite against hunger. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts in helping us in our fight against malnutrition in Haiti's Central Plateau.

With your help Project Medishare has been combating childhood malnutrition which affects more than 50 percent of children in the Central Plateau. We are happy to announce our Akamil Production Facility's construction is complete and working toward setting up for full operation scheduled for January.

On this important day we would like to say thank you to the Caporella Family, Berlin Family Foundation, Coral Gables Congregational Church, UM Rotaract Club, South Florida Rotary Clubs and Rotary International, Center for Disease Control, Auto Gov, AkzoNobel, DSM and donors like you who are making the opening of this facility a reality.

The Akamil Production Facility will manufacture and distribute Akamil, a mix of locally-grown products such as cereals (rice, corn, millet, wheat) and vegetables (beans) all blended into powder. It is a product of great nutritious value containing building and energetic nutrients, and is affordable to poor families. With the expert consultation of a nutritionist, the finished product will be fortified with a mix of important vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and Vitamin A.

Introduced in the 1970s, Akamil is well-known and accepted in Haiti as an energetic and constructive food with a satisfying nutritional value that fills the deficits currently observed among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and TB/HIV patients in Haiti.  The Akamil Production Facility allows Project Medishare to engage the community's local farmers and women's groups. Akamil will not only provide a source of nutrients for the people who need it the most, but also provide a source of economic development for the people. Once operational,  farmers throughout the community will sell their crops to the production facility, thereby allowing them to transition from subsistence farming to cash crop farming.

Akamil will also be sold to women merchants at a reduced price, and they will sell the final product throughout Haiti, thus beginning entrepreneurial opportunities for these women, many of who are heads of their households.

The Nutrition and Training Center adjoining the Akamil Facility is still under construction, but once complete will provide a place to train new and current health agents.  The center will collaborate with the full-service medical facility in Thomonde to stabilize and restore these childhood cases to the point where they can return home. Both the child and their caregiver will be housed in a designated residential section of the center for as long as three months. Funding is still needed to complete the adjoining Training Center.

Our fight isn't over yet, but thanks to you we are winning each battle one step at a time.  On this important day, World Food Day, we thank you for helping us continue this fight against malnutrition in Haiti's Central Plateau. The people of Thomonde and Marmont are forever grateful for your support.

Project Medishare for Haiti
8260 NE 2nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33138
USA

Contact Name: Dr. Barth Green