KERSA ILLALA, Ethiopia — Atmit, a nutrient-rich porridge produced by the Church, has been saving thousands of lives in Ethiopia. In April, a Latter-day Saint couple and 30 of their friends had personal experience using it in humanitarian work.
Lon and Deanna Kennard, Heber City, Utah, have adopted six Ethiopian children, four of whom were orphans from the village of Kersa Illala. The Kennards return twice a year, bringing medical and education teams to help the village. In their latest expedition in April, they were joined by 30 friends, including five doctors and six nurses, from northern California and the Intermountain region of the United States.
Before leaving Utah, Sister Kennard wanted to include in their resources a quantity of Atmit, made at the Church's Welfare Square in Salt Lake City from a recipe comprising oat flour, powdered milk, sugar and a supplement of nutrients.
Garry R. Flake, director of Church Humanitarian Emergency Response, authorized the group to secure the Atmit, already in Ethiopia, for the villagers, who gathered at the Seventh Day Adventist College clinic near Kersa Illala. The medical teams worked with clinic staff to address pressing medical and health needs of women and children from the village, the most urgent being malnourishment of infants, especially twins.
Dr. Joseph Bingham, Provo, Utah, who worked on the expedition with his twin sons, also physicians, said: "When treating patients in the field with parasites, infections and the complications of malnourishment without the advantages of hospitalization or gavage feeding, Atmit is an easy-to-prepare method to treat starving children and can be given so inexpensively and conveniently. Nursing mothers who are not receiving adequate nutrition themselves, and especially twins, need powerful medical resources and intervention if they are going to respond."
Sheryl Faught, a retired school teacher and adoption coordinator from Fallon, Nev., administered Atmit to a set of twins. "The babies were so weak that they couldn't even swallow," she said. "The first day, we didn't think the little boy would make it. There is no nourishment in the mother's milk, but after receiving the medical attention she needed, the mother returned each day to feed her babies Atmit at the clinic. We were all so surprised to see him on the fourth day. There was such a noticeable difference."
