From Left to Right: Dana Langham, Save the Children; Erica Khetran, Save the Children; Claire Lyons, PepsiCo Foundation; Huw Gilbert, PepsiCo AMEA
Morning all! It’s not quite dawn, Monday morning January 31st. The warm musical notes of the call to morning prayers rise up to the 12th floor of our hotel from the loud speakers in the bustling streets of Dhaka below. Since I have the great fortune to travel for PepsiCo to amazing, out-of-the-way towns and villages across the world, it occurred to me that it was high time to bring you along, to share a bit about the incredible work and achievements of PepsiCo Foundation’s partner organizations.
This is my maiden voyage to Bangladesh. What took me so long? I keep asking myself. Bangladesh has the fifth largest population in the world with an estimated 165 million inhabitants giving it the designation as the world’s most densely populated country. It’s relatively small in landmass and tucked between China and India. Nearly half its mostly rural population is under 15 years old.
There are more nonprofits and development agencies here than you can count. I spent yesterday immersed in meetings with Save the Children, UNICEF and World Food Program coming up to speed on the gripping realities of pervasive poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and stunting. Recent climate changes are also exacerbating food shortages and insecurity due to increasing intensity of rains that flood this low lying tidal basin washing away any hope of good harvests and proper nutrition. Vicious cycles are no strangers here.
So far my time in the capital city of Dhaka bodes well on the scale of fascinating and compelling. I make “grant site visits” to get a firsthand understanding of how PepsiCo’s funding & support are making a real and remarkable difference in people’s lives. If you’re thinking I have a purposeful job, you are so right!
In a few hours, along with a group from Save the Children and P&G, I’ll board a short flight by sea plane to remote Barisal on the coast. I am so lucky to be joined by Huw Gilbert & Noha Hefny from PEP AMEA. Together we’re on a mission to see how the early administration of ready to use foods, or“RUTFs”, such as plumpy nuts, make the difference between life and death for children under five years old suffering from malnutrition.
This video of our work with Save the Children called “Enhancing Life and Livelihoods” shows how powerful this fortified, micronutrient rich food really is. When I see this it underscore how vital and exciting our new GNG expansion really is. Think of what is possible when we bring fortified foods to people who suffer from underweight and nutrient deficiencies! Together we are reaching over 550,000 mothers and children here in Bangladesh.
Barisal is known for its resilience to hard time. Cyclone Sidr slammed into this Ganges River delta a few years ago – an all too common reality this district of nearly eight million of Bangladesh’s most impoverished and malnourished continually have to deal with. One of the key things we’re learning is just how essential it is to prepare for the inevitable – cyclones and natural disasters are constant parts of life here. Agencies like SAVE are ramping up their preparedness efforts as it proves to be a primary strategy for emergency response organizations worldwide. Here’s a good shot of what the flooding is like, thanks to Nat Geo.
Have to get going and finish packing for the next leg of the trip. Have to load my cameras and video gear – I know it’s going to something special!
