The Nutrition Program

Advance # 982168.

Kadiatu “Kadie” Sasey started the Kissy Center Nutrition Program in 2003. With support from United Methodists in the US , Ms. Sasey started a yogurt and dry milk-based program for hospital patients in January 2004. At the beginning Ms. Sasey would walk around the hospital waiting area or maternity ward, identify children and mothers with symptoms of malnutrition, and begin talking to them about the importance of nutrition. Willing mothers joined Ms. Sasey’s nutrition program. Each week the mother would bring her child to the hospital for a weigh-in and check-up, and then receive the protein-rich yogurt mixture to feed to her baby for the next week.

When Ms. Sasey’s supply of milk and yogurt was discontinued, she sought to create another food combination which would serve the same purposes. Ms. Sasey finally arrived at a lentil-based, protein-rich concoction to support her program. The ingredients include lentils, groundnut, palm oil, fish, black-eyed peas, and wara rice. The ingredients are ground together and then left to cook for more than ten hours.

The Program Today

Today, Kissy Center ’s Nutrition Program is in more demand than ever. In addition to monitoring the hundreds of families who rely on her innovative nutritional supplement, Ms. Sasey continues to give daily lectures to patients and even hospital staff members. She is determined to ensure that everyone in her community is fully aware of the symptoms and remedies of malnutrition.