Delays & Challenges in Getting Micronutrients to 2800 Children

The MANI 5 Extension grant started on September 1, 2018. It was designed as a 12 month project, with an ending date of August 30, 2019.Starting at the beginning of September, Shoulder to Shoulder worked with the Mathile Institute to place an order of Chispuditos with Alimentos (the company in Guatemala that produces the product).  The order was meant to provide enough Chispuditos for the October 2018 and January 2019 distributions. Unfortunately, due to a problem with the testing of the product, the delivery of the product was delayed for two months. This meant that there was NO DISTRIBUTION of Chispuditos in October 2018, as should have happened.

Once the testing problem was resolved, a new problem arose – due to changes in the Honduran government, Alimentos was not allowed to transport the product into Honduras. The problem was finally resolved in January 2019, with Alimentos contracting with another company to bring the product into Honduras. The Chispuditos arrived at StS’s clinic the 3^rd week of January. Our staff worked hard, and by the first week of Feb, all families received their 3 bags of Chispuditos.

We were succesfully able to get the micronutrient product delivered to the 2800 children due to the collaboration between our 2 MANI project staff and 23 Community Health Workers.  This project is truly a “community effort.”