MCC provides soymilk for children in North Korea 08/16/2007

MCC provides soymilk for children in North Korea

By Tim Shenk

Aug. 16, 2007

AKRON, Pa. – Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is providing 200 tons of soybeans, worth $130,000 U.S. or $138,000 Cdn., to make soymilk for children in North Korean schools and orphanages.

The shipment is intended to alleviate malnutrition among 40,000 children in North Korea. According to the World Food Program, more than a third of North Korean children are chronically malnourished, causing many health problems, such as stunted growth.

MCC is partnering with a Canadian organization, First Steps, to purchase the soybeans in China and ship them to North Korea. Using equipment from First Steps, North Korean schools and orphanages process the soybeans into soymilk and serve it daily to children.

Susan Ritchie, the executive director of First Steps, says that malnourished children become more healthy when they drink soymilk regularly.

"The first thing we notice is that their skin improves," Ritchie says. "Many of the sores on their faces disappear, and we see that the children become more energetic and their growth charts reveal that they go through a growth spurt."

MCC has provided North Koreans with food and supplies worth more than $13 million U.S. since 1996. According to the World Food Program, North Korea faces chronic food shortages as large as 1 million metric tons per year.

First Steps is a Christian humanitarian organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Susan Ritchie helped to form the organization after visiting North Korea with a Canadian diplomatic delegation in 2000.

Ritchie says that she was deeply moved during the trip by a meeting with a North Korean mother who had recently given birth to twin daughters.

"I could see that she was struggling to feed her daughters," Ritchie says. "I came back to Canada and started praying for her and for her children and for many other mothers who were in the same position."

Two years later, Ritchie helped form First Steps to provide food aid for children in North Korea. Ritchie says she named the organization after her prayer for the woman's daughters, "that they would survive and that they would be able to take their first steps."

An audio interview with Susan Ritchie is available online at mcc.org/podcasts.

Tim Shenk is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.

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Photo available: MCC is providing soymilk to children in North Korea who are at risk of malnutrition. (Photo by Kathi Suderman)

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