Nutritional Recovery for Infants and Teenage Mothers in Cartagena, Colombia
This program aims to ensure the recovery of newborns and children of adolescent mothers at risk of malnutrition, and guarantee them access to nutritional resources that encourage healthy physical and mental development. Beneficiaries receive customized medical treatments, ongoing medical and nutritional monitoring, dietary supplements, and education workshops.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Alejandra
Last Name
Molina
Organization
Give to Colombia
Country
Colombia
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
Give to Colombia
Organization Website
Organization Phone
305.669.4630
Organization Address
6705 Red Road, Suite 502, Coral Gables, FL 33143
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
United States
Your idea
Name Your Project
Nutritional Recovery for Infants and Teenage Mothers in Cartagena, Colombia
Country your work focuses on
Colombia
Describe Your Idea
This program aims to ensure the recovery of newborns and children of adolescent mothers at risk of malnutrition, and guarantee them access to nutritional resources that encourage healthy physical and mental development. Beneficiaries receive customized medical treatments, ongoing medical and nutritional monitoring, dietary supplements, and education workshops.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
In response to non-existent public policies and a lack of governmental treatment programs addressing malnutrition in Colombia, the Juan Felipe Gómez Escobar Foundation’s Nutritional Recovery Program (the Program) uses a social venture business model to integrate the urgent distribution of food and nutritional supplements with physiological support services and education to children, adolescent mothers, and families living in extreme poverty in Cartagena, Colombia.
By combining the value of social impact with efficient business practices, the foundation has been able to attend patients for less than USD$15 per patient (on average), providing them with medicine, nutrition monitoring, vaccination and lab tests. Through this model, the JFGE has saved the lives of more than 1,800 children, and become the first organization in Cartagena to combine affordable medical and nutrition services with educational outreach and skills training for teenage mothers and their children.
JFGE is further revolutionizing the Program through the development of a comprehensive “Social Center” health complex, providing ideal technical facilities for sustainable nutritional recovery resources, including classrooms, a cafeteria, entrepreneurial workshops, a daycare center, and medical center. Through the Center’s soybean plant, JFGE will train and provide microcredit to adolescent mothers to start a business in their own communities. Moreover, soybeans from the plant will be sold in the cafeteria, supporting the nutritional recovery of beneficiaries while providing them with tools to maintain health. Moreover, the Center will be the first social project in Colombia to follow the Green Building standards, addressing both environmental and nutritional concerns.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Yes
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
JFGE initiatives, all of which integrate the Nutritional Recovery Program as an integral component, have helped decrease the infant mortality rate in Cartagena by 80% since 2001 (when it was the highest in the country), and have attended over four percent of the City’s annual number of total pregnant teenagers.
Since June 2006, the Program has directly impacted 2,838 people (82% children five years old and under and 18% adolescent mothers). Over this time, the Program increased the height and weight of every infant and child beneficiary. Of the premature babies, 40% gained more than 600 grams in weight and 36% increased more than 3 cm in height. Of the nursing children under 12 months, 50% gained more than 400 grams in weight a month and 37% increased more than 1 cm in height. Of the nursing children older than 12 months, 70% gained more than 200 grams in weight a month and 61% increased more than one cm in height.
Since the Program operates in the Juan Felipe Medical Center, all beneficiaries have received top-notch medical attention, which has contributed to the overall improvement of their health. Moreover, nurses and nutritionists offer workshops (19 this year) on healthy lifestyle and dietary habits (e.g., breastfeeding, vaccinations, healthy child development) to every participating adolescent mother, enabling them to apply this knowledge within their families in the poorest communities of the city. Thanks to the educational component of the program more than 11,000 people have benefited indirectly from this Program.
Problem
Cartagena de Indias (Cartagena) is the fifth most important city and the second largest port city in the Colombia. Paradoxically, it struggles with the highest rates of poverty in the country (70%) and a malnutrition rate significantly higher than the national average. In Cartagena 18.2 % of the population suffer from chronic malnutrition, 1.2% from sharp malnutrition (weight deficiency according to age), and 11.9% from global malnutrition (weight deficiency according to height). As a result, Cartagena has experienced a rise in the prevalence of malnutrition-related diseases despite growth in the city’s economy. Child mortality is a serious consequence of these conditions and is directly impacted by a mother’s ability to maintain her nutritional health and that of her child. Addressing nutrition through the Nutritional Recovery Program for Infants and Teenage Mothers is, therefore, a strategic point of intervention with direct results on the health of young mothers, children, and families.
Actions
To create opportunities for healthy living and balanced nutrition for poor adolescent mothers, infant children and families, the Program will:
• Deliver snacks and daily lunches fortified with macronutrients to enable nutritional recovery according to each beneficiary’s age and health conditions.
• Medically treat beneficiaries with parasitical problems or advanced malnutrition.
• Promote income-generating activities among participating pregnant adolescents (e.g., institutional gardens and family businesses).
• Teach beneficiaries to select and prepare healthy foods within their limited budget.
• Teach beneficiaries healthy habits in the consumption of food.
• Teach beneficiaries healthy lifestyle and nutrition options.
• Conduct home visits by social workers to identify and address external factors that may hinder the infant’s and/or mother’s nutritional recovery processes.
• Conduct ongoing, personalized health and nutrition monitoring.
• Track recovery data and information about participating beneficiaries.
• Incorporate the Program as a core component within JFGE’s other innovative initiatives.
Results
As a result of the Program, the infant mortality has significantly decreased in Cartagena. Malnourished children are able to recovery nutritionally and achieve healthy physical and emotional growth. Adolescent mothers are better equipped to provide and maintain long-term, affordable healthy dietary habits, through the Program’s educational component. Additionally, by educating its beneficiaries about public policies related to health and nutrition, JFGE empowers them to understand and access public resources.
Through innovative partnerships, the Program leverages food and human resources to position itself as an effective, sustainable and replicable model for scalable change. The social venture business model has been leveraged to raise the awareness of the need for quality medical services in poor communities and ways that private and public entities can collaborate through concrete actions and tested methodologies. JFGE’s partnerships also help it serve as a source of targeted data for the government on strategies to confront malnutrition.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Approximately 20,000 children are born each year in Cartagena, of which 19.63% are children of adolescent mothers. In order for the Program to be successful over the next three years, JFGE must be able to expand its capacity to attend as many of the additional 3,926 infants of adolescent mothers as possible. The Foundation currently attends 160 a year, or 4.08% of the potential market . In order to maintain success, the Program needs:
• An expanded, yet efficient, operational structure in order to maintain and improve the quality of services to the largest possible number of beneficiaries.
• The expansion of training and technical assistance to professionals in the field of nutrition.
• Additional financial resources to increase programming capacity and scale of impact
JFGE´s “Social Complex”, which began construction in November 2009, is an integral part of this expansion, as its facilities will increase the foundation’s capacity and improve coverage of services. Through the construction of this 10,400 mt2 comprehensive community health complex, the foundation’s experience and nutritional programs will be replicated and scaled. Anticipated results include:
• Beneficiaries of the Adolescent Mothers Program will increase by 150% each year (from 160 teenagers a year to 400), implying a growth of 4.08% of the potential market (the total number of pregnant teenagers a year in Cartagena) to 10.18%.
• 130% more teen mothers (increasing from 75 to 175) will be treated each year by the Teen Mothers Program.
• The Juan Felipe Medical Center, which support the Crib Sponsorship and Teen Mothers Program, will be able to treat 160% more patients each year.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
The Nutritional Recuperation Program works to mitigate the following risk factors:
• Participant absenteeism in the receipt of medicine and treatment: Occasionally, participating adolescent mothers have had difficulties attending the Medical Center because they lack sufficient resources to pay for transportation. Additionally, some abandon treatment once they begin to see the first signs of their child’s recovery. In the former case, the Foundation looks to mitigate these risks by scheduling nutrition consultations and interventions on the same day, thus avoiding additional or unnecessary transportation costs for the mothers. In the latter case, the Foundation invests in parent education to instill greater understanding of the long-term process of recuperation and the importance of maintaining ongoing treatment.
• The Dilution of Food Distribution: Young mothers and families have a tendency to distribute the food they receive for the nutritional recovery of one child to all members of the family, impeding the desired affects of the treatment on the child suffering from malnutrition. Experience shows that it is necessary to work in collaboration with the family to address household nutritional needs in order to minimize and avoid this problem. In order to achieve this, the Foundation seeks complimentary services from other organizations such as the World Food Program of the United Nations (WFP), which attends to the nutritional needs of the rest of the family.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$50 - 100
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
In what country?
Colombia
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Juan Felipe Gómez Escobar Foundation
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
To leverage available resources and experience in the field of nutrition, the Foundation has created alliances and agreements with specialized institutions such as: the UN World Food Program, Compartamos con Colombia, Conexión Colombia, Saldarriaga Concha Foundation, Comfenalco, Universidad de la Sabana, CESA (Superior Studies in Administration Center), Colombian Institute for Family Wellness (ICBF), Acción Social of the Presidency, Universidad Tecnológica, the University of Cartagena, Johnson & Johnson, and Alpina Food Products, among others. Additionally, the Program counts on the support of individuals who “adopt” children in order to assure their nutritional recuperation.
The contributions of these private and public entities and individuals in the provision of food, resources, financial support and expertise help sustain the program, and allows for increased coverage of services.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1. To strengthen the operational structure of JFEF to maintain and improve the quality of services to the largest possible number of beneficiaries.
2. To share best practices and experience by providing direct training and technical assistance to professionals in the field of nutrition
3. To secure addition financial resources to increase the capacity and expansion of successful nutritional programming.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
In 2001, a publication about Cartagena identified the city’s child mortality rate as 48.4 infant deaths out of one thousand births, (compared to less than 5 occurrences in developed countries). Most of the cases, related to diseases caused by malnutrition, could likely have been prevented with adequate nutritional services. JFGE found it unacceptable that any children should die due to lack of resources and therefore made it a priority to address the reduction of child mortality due to malnutrition.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Catalina Gómez Escobar holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Clark University in Massachusetts and an MBA from Inalde – Universidad de la Sabana in Colombia. She also attended various education programs in Japan and Switzerland and participated in different development and social sector seminars in Colombia, Mexico, USA and Turkey. After completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees she worked in the financial sector in Colombia in the Banco de Bogota and Global de Inversiones. During these years she was already informally involved in community work Bogota. In 1998 she became the country representative and President of Magna Trade; a company that represents US nutrition supplements firms in the Colombian medical sector. In the year 2000, after the tragic death of her child, Catalina formalized her work for children and established the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar foundation (named after her son).
A few months after establishing the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation, she realized that the organization needed all her effort and work to be able to grow and significantly impact on the health of poor children in Cartagena. She sold Magna Trade and fully committed herself full-time to children through the JFGE for no monetary pay. Besides her work at JFGE, she has two children with her husband and is a board member of the following companies and organizations: Acerías de Colombia S.A. – Acesco, EFFE (her family’s philanthropic organization), Colombiaton and AIESEC. Due to her belief that the social sector needs to be managed through a business like model with a social purpose, Catalina has been able to link numerous organizations from the private sector into her cause and many other social causes in Colombia.
She has gained wide recognition at a national level and has been invited to speak about her work with children at many conferences and events. Her contribution to bridging philanthropy with Colombian companies and multinationals has thus been very significant. Additionally, she has been able to transform Cartagena and misery that lies behind it. Catalina Escobar is candidate for Ashoka Fellow, as a world social entrepreneur, and was recently invited to become a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Personal contact at Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
 | 129 weeks agoAlejandra Molina updated this Competition Entry. |
| 130 weeks agoAlejandra Molina submitted this idea. |
