$160 raised

(Project Guinea Pig in English) is a program that addresses anemia and malnutrition in farming communities. We have piloted the program in Aco, Peru. A farming community around 50km outside of the bustling city of Huancayo. It is a very quiet town with approximately 3000 inhabitants but the growing number of children with anemia is causing some noise. FIMRC Peru teamed up with the health post and municipality to address this public health issue. Every Wednesday, Soledad Almonacid, a Field Nurse with the Huancayo team, gives a health talk to 16 mothers who are part of the program. In exchange for participation in the health talks the women receive incentives after 1 or 2 modules. One of the incentives is a loan of a male and female guinea pig or Cuy. Cuyes are rich source of protein in the sierra of Peru. They also reproduce quickly which some families use to sell and generate some income. We are encouraging the Aco mothers to use the Cuyes primarily for family consumption.

We have also given them another incentive – seeds to build a vegetable garden. We chose vegetables rich in iron. We would like to add another intervention to the mix, Lucky Iron Fish. These metal fish release almost all of a days’ iron intake when cooked or boiled with water. We want to expand the Proyecto Cuy to other communities and include the lucky iron fish. Next year, we home to expand into two new communities and include these little fishes rich in iron.