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Doctors Without Borders is an international medical and humanitarian organization that assists people who's lives are "threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe." The organization set up a free interactive exhibit called "Starved for Attention" at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. With images taken by VII Photo (a group of award winning photojournalists), the show was housed in a tent recreating a field hospital. The movement addresses the serious issues of childhood malnutrition in the developing world. I sketched these special individuals as they shared with the public their passion to fight this crisis.
According to Doctors Without Borders, "Almost 200 million children under 5 years of age are affected by malnutrition, with 90 percent living in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. And at any moment at least 20 million children suffer from the most life-threatening form of severe malnutrition...In fact, malnutrition contributes to one third of the 8.8 million children under five who die every year."
Currently the governments of the U.S., Canada, E.U., Japan and Australia provide humanitarian food aid to developing countries. However, the cereal-based flours currently being donated do not provide the proper nutritional needs for infants and children. Without a change in policy and proper resources, these children will continue suffering from malnutrition.
The exhibit filled my heart with empathy moving me to sign their petition which demands reforms in U.S. food aid policy. To learn more and join the fight against malnutrition you can visit the exhibit at Prospect Park (at Grand Army Plaza) Sept 21-23 or online at StarvedForAttention.org.