The doctors were stunned. “You can’t be improving! No matter how many medications we give you, no matter what you do, you will always have to come to the doctor! But now you’re feeling better, both of you, so we’ve reduced the amount of medication.”
This is Nurzat’s story of transformation through healthy eating. Before participating in the nutrition seminar her sugar index was 16—a healthy range is between 3.9 and 5.6—but with proper nutrition it dropped to 8.2.
Nurzat is a single mother, and she has 3 sons. Nurzat herself and her youngest, who is three, suffer from diabetes. “There is a lot of suffering! Doctors just give medication. They don’t give any other advice, and they don’t say anything about what to eat,” she explained. Nurzat always hurried to the doctor when their medical condition got bad. Sometimes twice a week they would go to the doctor, even at night by ambulance to get medications for their symptoms.
Then Nurzat started attending the seminar on healthy eating. She studied and applied what she learned in her life, reading about how diseases can be treated and prevented and how eating healthy foods can alleviate diabetes. After she started following a healthy diet for diabetes, she noticed that both her and her child’s health improved. Now they visit the doctor less often than before and the doctors are puzzled, saying, “No matter how many medications you take, you will never be healthy and well. But we can see that you and your son are much improved.”
“Thank you very much,” Nurzat said. “I had no idea that there was such a thing as treating diseases with healthy eating and now I understand that the foods we eat affect our lives. Thank you for teaching us this!”
Mahabat had infused that young woman with encouragement and confidence that she could do it, and together they did!
Now we eat vegetables at every meal, I am stronger, I can do my housework and take care of my children and a sick member of our family.
Health is everyone’s responsibility, and Bibi grew in her health knowledge and confidence through our training and put it into practice for the good of her community.
Malnutrition continues to increase across Afghanistan. The United Nations now reports 3.2 million children in Afghanistan face acute malnutrition. We expect this to worsen over the winter as the bitter cold forces many families to divert part of their funds towards heating instead of food.
Educating disadvantaged communities about their health does not only prevent illnesses and improve their wellbeing, but it can also save lives.
The doctors were stunned. “You can’t be improving! No matter how many medications we give you, no matter what you do, you will always have to come to the doctor!
In our Community Health Project in Jordan, we are seeing lives transformed through health screening and education. We work in partnership with local organizations, medical professionals,
Soon Mohammed was back to a normal weight and Farzana was delighted to see her son playing again, standing and moving, and having an appetite.
All of these health conditions have multiple underlying causes, but poor dietary habits are high among the risk factors.
Staff from our partner organization are reaching out to a Roma community in the south of Kyrgyzstan.
In November 2023 Operation Mercy in Afghanistan started building a solar water supply network in a district in Kabul. We were joined at the opening ceremony by local officials and members of the community.
In our Operation Mercy Community Health clinics in Jordan, we screen patients who need diagnostic tests and specialist follow up.
“The people here stood with me,” says Om Waleed*, recounting her young daughter’s need for surgery. “Even though my family is all the way in Syria,
Serving at Hope & Health has given our staff the opportunity to be make a difference in people´s lives in Skopje, in a way that can only happen over time.
The kidney surgery was life saving for Sarah! She is now an active and smiley 1 year old, adored by her older siblings.
… she will pass this information on as she cares for pregnant and lactating women.
The third wave of Covid brought a shaking up in the community in the capital of North Macedonia. One way our Operation Mercy team made a difference was by coming alongside the medical vaccination personnel in practical ways.
“When I come here all my worries go away.” Exercises and social support are making a difference in women’s lives.
Maftuna knew about the book through one of Operation Mercy’s community health trainers. She herself went through Operation Mercy’s general health and pregnancy lessons, as the trainers do not only work with the local women in the village but also the wives of Operation Mercy staff.
The WASH project has taught us many valuable things, one of which being the necessity of having access to clean water, which can help us avoid many diseases.