Document Type

Presentation - Oral - to academic peers, less than or equal to 1 hour

Providing Vulnerable Communities a Recipe for the Abundant Life

Department

Nursing

Date of Activity

Fall 5-25-2023

Abstract

Background:

There is a great need to provide healthy lifestyle education to vulnerable and impoverished populations. Food deserts are very prevalent and there are health programs that can be implemented to help empower people to join in the recipe for an abundant life. Connecting with individuals and families to empower them to make healthy lifestyle choices can have lasting effects physically and spiritually. Joy Kauffman wanted to provide help and education to vulnerable people and created an nonprofit organization, FARM STEW, which stands for Farming, Attitude, Rest, Meals, Sanitation, Temperance, Enterprise, and Water, to provide a recipe for an abundant life. Over the years, Joy and her team at FARM STEW, have created a Certified Home program which will have the following elements: a garden with at least three different vegetables growing in it; all children in the household between six months and five years of age have a normal mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) score; a rubbish pit and a rubbish-free domestic environment; a latrine that the family uses and keeps clean; and a handwashing station (tippy tap) with water and soap or ash (Kauffman, 2015). Homes and communities with water and sanitation have been found to be beneficial (Wolf et al., 2018; Weststate, 2019). Fresh vegetables can be grown most anywhere (Bartholomew, 2018; Saha, 2017). This study explored sanitation and nutritional practices of vulnerable communities in South Sudan.

Methods:

This quantitative study utilized a retrospective review of data previously collected via an online platform asking questions about families in impoverished communities in South Sudan. Adults 18 years or older who lived in food deserts or experienced poor nutrition were asked to share their perspectives and experiences. Descriptive statistics were conducted.

Results:

When asked about water / sanitation, 855 of the FARM STEW Certified Homes in South Sudan have a Tippy tap (sink) with soap and water. When asked if their home had a garden with three different kinds of vegetables, 1400 (100%) homes did meet the criteria. When asked about enterprise, there were 16 groups which comprised 439 members who participated in the savings club or VSLA. Those members had collectively saved a total of 10, 857, 500 South Sudanese pounds or $27, 143.75 USD.

Implications:

There are tangible benefits to this program in that 855 homes have benefited from water/ sanitation. There are 1,400 homes that now have a kitchen garden with 3 vegetables. There are 439 people who now have Financial benefits of earning and saving money. These healthy lifestyle choices can have a ripple effect from the Certified Homes and onto their communities. If we give a person a fish, we’ve fed them one meal, but if we teach them how to fish we can feed them for a lifetime. If we can empower people to improve their physical environment, then we can eventually invite them into a lasting loving relationship with our Lord and Savior to meet their Spiritual needs.

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