44
THE “VITAMINS IN MY LIFE” ESSAY COMPETITION
The “Vitamins
ns in My Life”
Essay Competition
mpetition
ir
t Casim
scientis
h
s
es
li
o
P
ce
ubstanc
years sin
active s
0
io
b
0
1
e
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ib
cr
arke
me, our
” to des
r 2012 m
g this ti
itamine
v
in
r
“
The yea
u
wn
m
D
r
.
te
has gro
ealth
ined the
nimal h
utrition
a
n
d
in
n
Funk co
a
s
man
f vitamin
l for hu
al role o
it
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essentia
e
th
f
nding o
understa
paign
ably.
sive cam
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n
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te
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an
amins
Life ran
ntial vit
d
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, th
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tenary,
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ccess to
the cen
ampaig
crease a
c
k
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in
is
a
d
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th
n
f
a
o
T
story
of,
art o
eir own
areness
ished. P
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it
to r
share w
to be we
le need
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work.
d
d
n
all peop
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life a
le
ir
p
e
o
e
th
p
r
s play in
a call fo
with
vitamin
le
o
r
e
to share
th
e
in
z
a
about
g
ma
lations
n of the
congratu
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it
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e
.
t
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¶
d in this
and our
s the m
delighte
d here,
uched u
te
to
in
t
r
a
p
We are
s
th
n
e
ries
tributio
Each on
four sto
four con
y to us.
r
e
you the
to
r work
th
s
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d th
tinue u
te
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uthors
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it
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inspire
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stories
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to every
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k
a
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.
th
th
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ciencies
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ing a diff
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k
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m
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ose who
ng the m
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d we ar
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With wa
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eam nd Life T
a
t
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S
The
THE “VITAMINS IN MY LIFE” ESSAY COMPETITION
SIGHT AND L IFE | VOL. 27 (2) | 2013
First Place
Edwin Momanyi
nyi
“Do you monitor your daily diet?” “Not much, just as long as
my satisfaction and that of my family is fulfilled.” This was a
hoo was
w
response given by a neighboring widow to a doctor who
treating her undernourished child aged two and a halff years
years.
r.
“Include enough vitamins in your diet,” said the doctor.
ther
That evening after discharge from hospital, the mother
came direct to our resource center kiosk: “Please may I have
der
some green vegetables as directed by the doctor.” Her order
included vitamin sources like dark green leafy vegetables,, card
rots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and cereals like sorghum and
millet.
derOn her back was her crying baby with signs of being underd the
nourished. When asked the condition of the baby, she said
equate
child suffered from deficiency diseases due to lack of adequate
ness,
vitamins. The signs like loss of appetite, general weakness,
anemia, and sleeplessness confirmed to me that this was a
case of malnutrition.
or treatThe doctor’s advice was good I thought, not only for
ing the child but also in considering the family’s die
diet: “Include
enough vitamins in your diet.”
ources of vvitamins
mins
The mother managed to get enough sources
from our kiosk, except for a few from animal produ
products and
nd at the nea
some fruits that we advised her to find
nearby market.
ns were becam
My concern to know what vitamins
became vital to me
m the hospita
after the visit of that mother from
hospital.. By this time
I had my project which dwe
dwelt much on the production of
rich foods. At the
th fields we de
erated
ated on which
vitamin A-rich
deliberated
min A-rich foods we could
ld plant. Thus, the most available,
vitamin
ike carrots, paw paw
n veg
tables, oranges, and other
like
paws, green
vegetables,
available fruits were accepted.
p
At the rresource
ource center, we provided produce from our
garde
garden and more people visited us. We gave them inform
information
about ways to grow and take
t
care of seedlings of vi
vitamin A-rich
food sources, which in return, we gave them free as homework
nd made efforts to visit their fields to see the progress.
and
The continuation of growing vitamin A-rich foods had some
impac
impact on me and the people around and I felt it was my steping sstone to discover more about what vitamins are.
ping
Three years later, several health personnel had visited our
fields to buy produce, although this was less than they needed,
for they demanded more vitamin-rich foods. It was then that
I had to expand my project to include more vitamin sources
table 11: A sample
ple of regular
r
vitamin consumption per day.
Time
Food portion
Fo
Morning
Morn
g
Sliced banana, boiled egg, porridge,
Mid-morning
morning
Pineapple slice, papaya, mango, melon, etc.
Pine
Lunch
ch
Swe
Sweet potatoes with fresh milk; whole-grain food
whole-grain bread, with fresh milk
with heaped vegetables like spinach, cabbage, etc.;
wi
meat or fish.
m
Evening
Ev
ng break
Juice made from citrus fruits; berries like cranberries,
strawberries, raspberries; melon. Also taken with
fortified foods like biscuits.
Supper
upper
Chapati fro
from whole-grain flour with beans,
e.g., soybeans,
soyb
with slices of fruits or juices;
soup of liver.
than vitamin
amin A. This decision led me to research vitamins and
I found infor
information materials from Sight and Life as a resource.
It was then that I discovered that vitamins were vital
nutrie
nutrients indispensable in performing various tasks within the
hu
human body in order to promote optimal health and prevent
various diseases. Also, in conjunction with other nutrients,
they help to break down proteins, thereby stabilizing the
metabolism
metabolism, enabling the growth of cell tissue and bones, and
promoti
promoting a healthy immune system. Since each vitamin is
vital to perform a specific task, a shortage in any one of them
may lead to a host of health problems in the human body.
After my research I then made efforts to include more vitamin
sources through gardening and selling, also to include them
in my daily diet. Some of the new sources like cucumbers and
imported fruits were included. We also started rearing milk
goats and keeping poultry as a way to include animal vitamin
products in our resource center.
Some months later there was a change in our resource
center, where the most vitamin-rich foods were found, and a
great change also in my diet. I can recall my first meal full of
vitamins. It included fruits and vegetables, where I ate five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables. For example, in one
day I ate a sliced banana with porridge made of millet flour,
45
46
THE “VITAMINS IN MY LIFE” ESSAY COMPETITION
then a snack of fresh milk. Later I ate a portion of pineapple or
melon, then more than three heaped tablespoons of vegetables.
e,
By then I had made my personal timetable on vitamin intake,
ensuring a balance of all vitamins in the diet, see Table 1.
rces
Our kiosk made it possible for me to have the vitamin sources
readily available and mostly at cheaper prices. We even purparachased a juice extractor machine and blender for the preparaor old people and
tion of juices, which was good especially for
vitam
young children who had difficulty chewingg vitamins.
MA BWOMOREMI,
The vitamin kiosk, by then named OBOGIMA
had a beneficial impact on farmers’ lives.
Forr instance:
instanc
1. We got different sources of vitamins easily;
e
2.. There were profits to expand
due to increased sales; and
3. We easily got seeds of som
some fruits that we planted and
produced seedlings.
Good health results w
were the outcome, e.g., a healthy face,
kin, hair, and good immune
i
skin,
system. I consider the discovery
itamins as a st
of vitamins
step to a good lifestyle.
respon
Correspondence:
dwin Momanyi,
Mom
Edwin
P.O. Box 44, Nyamira, 40500, Kenya.
ed
E-mail: [email protected]
Second Place
D. M. Asela Dissanayake
ssanayake
ust seven years
Sharmila lived in our estate house. She was just
old, a thin pale girl. One day her mother took her to the estate
dispensary, because she had infected wounds on both knees
ry as my
and her upper arm. I had also been at the dispensary
daughter had flu and I needed to get some medicine for her.
Sharmila cried and she did not allow anyone to do the wound
dressing. The doctor and nurses of the dispensary tried to treat
her. They asked Sharmila’s mother how the wounds had happened. The mother told them that every evening Sharmila had
knocked into something or had fallen inside or outside of the
house. I saw the doctor examined her very carefully, her eyes,
skin, and whole body.
Next day, the doctor came to our office to meet our welfare
officer. He asked to arrange a meeting with crèche attendants,
welfare officers, and the field officers of the estate. As a field
officer of our tea estate, I belong to that team. At that meeting
he told us about Sharmila’s disease. He said that Sharmila and
some of the estate children suffered from night blindnes which
was caused by vitamin A deficiency. Some of them suffered
from other nutrition deficiency diseases. So he forced us to
change their food habits. He taught us about the nutrition
values of our day-to-day food. Those days most of the estate
children had bread and sugar or honey for their breakfast.
Their dinner was white rice with yam curry or dried fish curry.
They never had vegetables, green leaves, or fruit for their
day-to-day use.
One of our crèche attendants suggested introducing some
ecipes for children in the crèches and day care centers on
recipes
thee estate. She iintroduced a special soup that contained rice,
mpkin, some gree
pumpkin,
green leaves, tomato, and egg. Her next recipe
was a snack prepared w
with wheat flour, rice powder, green
gram powder, and a small amount of sugar. Rice, vegetables
and green leaves with dhal oor dried fish or egg were introduced
to daily meals.
During the last four years our estate people have changed
od habits because health staff and teachers
teach in the area
their food
are actively doing health education programs, exhibiti
exhibitions, etc.
Managers of our estate provide free nutritious meals for infa
infants
and children in crèches and day care centers. Teachers check
heir students. Health department staff,
the mid-day meal of their
ublic health inspectors and public health midwives,
such as public
providee vitamin capsules and tablets for pregnan
pregnant mothers,
children
infants and smalll children.
ues are now healthy, beautiful
Sharmila and her colleagues
vita
teenagers. This is the storyy of vitamins in their lives, and vitamins in my life.
Correspondence:
D. M. Asela Dissanayake, No 102, Bandarawatta,
Batuhena, Hidellana, Sri Lanka
SIGHT AND L IFE | VOL. 27 (2) | 2013
THE “VITAMINS IN MY LIFE” ESSAY COMPETITION
Third Place
O. V. Jinadasa
As a 75-year-old old retired government servant,
ant, I spend my
m
mall housetime doing things like growing flowers, making small
hold things, etc.
ce of
One day, my daughter told me about the importance
growing vegetables rather than flowers. She gave me a copy oof
fficult for
Sight and Life magazine. Some of the articles were difficult
m to me.
me to understand. I asked my daughter to explain them
I got some knowledge about micronutrients. I had neverr heard
ut
about micronutrients in my school days. I now know about
vitamins A, B group, C, D, E and K, iron, and calcium.
As a retired person I have limited money to spend on
d
food.With my knowledge of micronutrient-rich food, I tried
to cultivate some leaves and vegetables in my garden. I have
ng
only a little knowledge about agriculture and I am trying
mited
to gather knowledge from village farmers. We have limited
space for gardening. My grandsons, granddaughters, and
er bags,
their colleagues help me. They use empty milk powder
actice.
paint cans, and polythene bags for our cultivating practice.
They like
lik to grow
ow plants
plan and water, fertilize, and look after
the plan
aske “Why do you not enter an article
plants. They asked
about home
h me gardening
gardeni and agriculture in your Sight and Life
magaz
e?” I think green leaves like swamp pea, cassava, and
magazine?”
rum icks are ver
drumsticks
very helpful as vitamin resources. We grow
pples, plantains,
plan
pineapples,
papayas, lemons, passion fruit, and
s. My grandsons
gran ons and
a granddaughters very much like
limes.
but some of
o them refused to eat vegetables and
to eatt fruit but
gr
n leav
es. I told th
green
leaves.
them about vitamins in a story. The heroes
of that story
tory had been
be consuming green leaves, vegetables,
fru
fruits, grains, and small fish for their daily meals. Now they
ver
very much like tto eat green leaves and vegetables in their
ly meals.
daily
orre pondence:
Correspondence:
O. V. Jinadasa, C/O aauto A/C shop, 556, Ketandola,
Rathnapura, Sri Lanka. E-mail: [email protected].
Fourth Place
Prince Akebo
o Abugri
Abug
gri
Vitamins, micronut
micronutrients that
at ar
are required by the body in
small quantities
g
quantities, cannot be ignored
because of their health
benefits. Vitamins
V amins in the right quantities boost human
huma immuni
revent diseases in one’s life. This benefit im
munity and prevent
implies
that anyone who is comm
mmitted to the consumption of vitamins
committed
in the right proportion would cut down on the amount of
oney spent on healthcare, since the immune system would
money
he
help prevent disease.
Des
Despite these benefits of vitamins, many people have still
ot tap
not
tapped into them because of ignorance and lack of knowledge of their benefits. Another factor, which I personally admit
to, has to do with lifestyles that do not promote the consumption of vitamins through fruits and vegetables.
When I was growing up as a young child in a small town
in Ghana, the consumption of fruits after or in between
meals was something that was not part of the family system. All we did was eat our staple food, which was mainly
composed of carbohydrates, and then go to bed. We were not
introduced as children to eating fruits and vegetables, though
such foods were readily available in the neighborhood. We
therefore grew up with the mindset that eating fruits and
other vegetables was the preserve of the rich and since we
were not as rich, eating it as part of our diet was out, even if
we could afford it.
As I grew up and progressed steadily up the academic ladder, I began to realize the importance of fruits and vegetables
and what they could do for me. Even with this knowledge as
a science student in high school, I still did not make it a habit
47
48
THE “VITAMINS IN MY LIFE” ESSAY COMPETITION
to consume fruits and vegetables because of the mindset
and lifestyle I had developed when I was growing up.
As a university student who was now studying nutrition
as a course and studying deeper into the functions of vitamins, I began to make eating fruits and vegetables part off my
diet since they were the cheapest and commonest sourcee of
ife
vitamins. However, after my encounter with Sight and Life
alth Care (PPHC)
C) in
magazine at the Presbyterian Primary Health
nd join
Bolgatanga as a national service person, and
joining the staff
school and
d
of PPHC to undertake nutrition education in schools
utrients and
an where
communities on the importance of micronutrients
tment to ensure
en ure
to find them, I then made a personal commitment
utrients which
wh h
that my body never lacked these important nutrients
nd vegetables
vegetab
are crucial for my survival. Consuming fruits and
ame part
art of my life.
l
daily to meet my body’s requirements became
vegetab es and
I am now so used to it that I buy and store vegetables
fruits in the refrigerator for future use.
bles as part of my
Not only do I consume fruits and vegetables
ike cooking oil
diet but I also make sure that I buy products like
tamins and
and bread flour that have been fortified with vitamins
ortification
minerals. This I am able to identify through the fortifi
logo on the packaging.
(non-governme tal
I currently also work with an NGO (non-governmental
rk of primary
organization) that is made up of a network
healthcare providers in Tamale. As part of myy work as a protrition,
gram manager in charge of public health and nutrition,
I encourage mothers and all community members in villages
pecially in
to introduce fruits and vegetables in their diets, especially
that of children under five years, to reduce the rate of malnuge
trition in their households. The most important message
n in
I give them however, is that they should introduce children
the family to the consumption of fruits and vegetables
to make it a part of their lifestyle.
lifest
This will enable them to live
ealthier liv
healthier
lives and not later grow and struggle just as I did to
vitam n intake a part
pa of their daily lives.
make vitamin
I have ttherefore
erefore re
ized tthat my commitment to vitamin
realized
ntake through
thr ugh the
the consumption
consump
intake
of fruits and vegetables has
mmune syste
boosted my immune
system and has protected me against
icknes s like malaria that easily beset me in the past. The
sicknesses
equ ncy of going to the clinic to treat malaria has reduced
frequency
nificantly and I can say with confidence that I am healthy
signifi
ass a result of tthis lifestyle of making vitamin intake a daily
y.
priority.
a
Once again
thanks to Sight and Life for the information you
hare and for stressing the need for vitamin intake over these
share
You emphasis on vitamins has changed my attitude
years. Your
towards the consumption of fruits and vegetables for good.
Corr
Correspondence:
Prrin Akebo Abugri, Health Program Manager,
Prince
Assoc
Association
of Church-Based Development NGOs (ACDEP),
P.O. BOX 1411, Gumani-Tamale, Ghana.
p
E-mail: [email protected]
SIGHT AND L IFE | VOL. 27 (2) | 2013
49