DEWORMING TREATMENT SAVES LIFE
After standing in line with his friends, five-year-old Rodrigo* quickly took his dose of deworming medicine, eager to claim his small prize for taking part. Once home, however, Rodrigo’s father realized that the pain in his son’s abdomen was more intense than the normal cramps that typically follow the medicine. He rushed him to the local emergency health post where Rodrigo was diagnosed with pneumonia caused by the massive—and previously undiscovered—parasite load that had migrated from his belly to his lungs. The overwhelming pain Rodrigo felt in his abdomen was the result of thousands of worms agitated by the medicine he had taken just hours earlier and soon to be evacuated from his body.
Rodrigo was transferred to the regional hospital for treatment of the pneumonia, but his family could not afford the additional deworming medication the hospital doctors said he needed. INMED immediately delivered additional doses of the treatment so that Rodrigo’s extraordinary parasitic infection could be completely eradicated. Rodrigo’s doctor claims that the deworming treatment INMED administered at his school saved his young life. Without immediate intervention to stop the migration of worms into Rodrigo’s lungs, he surely would have died.
PAYING IT FORWARD
Maria*, one of MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun’s most dedicated participants, began baby-sitting for a first-time mother of twin baby girls. Maria could tell that the girls’ mother, Nora*, was overwhelmed by the challenges of parenting twins and that she lacked even the most basic knowledge of what her daughters’ developmental milestones should be. Having learned all this from her own family support worker, and confident that the knowledge would reduce Nora’s stress, Maria was eager to share the information with Nora. She was also aware that reducing Nora’s stress levels would lessen the chances of family violence.
Maria began regularly sharing information and suggestions about the babies’ development based on what she had learned from her own participation in the MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun program. Grateful, and impressed, Nora couldn’t understand how Maria knew all this even though she too was a first-time parent.
Just prior to her next scheduled visit, Maria called her family support worker and asked if she could bring extra copies of the material from Healthy Start Grow Smart curriculum to share with Nora. Maria introduced all the new topics to Nora, the same way that it was done for her, and made sure she understood. Today, Nora is applying all that she has learned and is very proud of her new parenting skills. Maria, too, is proud of her newly-discovered ability to teach, inspire and strengthen a vulnerable young mother.
POSITIVE ROLE MODELS
Daniel* was doing very poorly in school before he entered the Embracing Our Youth program, receiving mostly D’s on his report cards. Since his mentoring match began, however, Daniel’s grades have improved in every subject, and he is now consistently earning B’s and C’s. While Daniel and his mentor do not specifically focus on tutoring or school work during their times together, the mentor has been able to help increase Daniel’s sense of self-efficacy, which has helped his improve his academic performance. Daniel would like to become a police officer, so his mentor has helped him enroll in the Explorer Program, a law enforcement internship program for teenagers. Daniel is delighted with his involvement in the Explorer Program, and is clearly benefiting from the positive relationship with his mentor.
*Participants’ names have been changed to protect their privacy.
