SG: Who are you? 

MA: I am a 22-year-old student with big ambitions not only for a better Nepal, but a better world. I am a passionate advocate for health as a human right and believe that we need to dramatically alter the way we approach and create enterprise in order to reduce the number one cause of illness worldwide: poverty.

I suppose I’m the Founder of NepalNUTrition, but for the time being, we aren’t focusing much on titles in regards to our project. We are a global, 21st century team made up of individual of all ages and backgrounds across the world. Everyone contributes in their own way, and each contribution is equally important.

SG: Where are you?

MA: I am in Nepal. I’m mostly running around the chaotic capital city Kathmandu conducting research, building partnerships, and garnering support from key players like the Government of Nepal and UNICEF.

But this work also often takes me out of Kathmandu to observe programs that are important to our program’s success. You don’t have to travel far outside Kathmandu to see “real Nepal” as most locals call it. In the past two months I have witnessed the crushing poverty in remote mountain communities through a medical trek with our partner INGO Himalayan HealthCare. And I just recently returned from a trip to the western “Terai” or flatland of Nepal where some of the highest rates of severe acute malnutrition in the entire country are seen. Nepal is a place of great geographical and cultural diversity. Unfortunately, one of the common strings connecting the different geographic areas and cultures seems to be a lack of treatment options for malnourished children. A friend and I will be traveling to rural Nepal in 2-3 weeks to document a new treatment protocol that is being piloted in the country that we believe can bring an end to acute malnutrition in Nepal.

SG: What is your good?

MA: Ultimately, our good is well-nourished Nepali children that are granted the right to a life free from the debilitating effects of malnutrition. More broadly, this means our good is also a more prosperous Nepal, as the loss of productivity in Nepal due to physical and cognitive stunting from malnutrition costs the country 3% of its GDP per year.

Our immediate and literal good (as in a product) is a fortified peanut butter that is proven as the world’s best treatment for acutely malnourished children.
 
SG: How long have you been at it?

MA: I have been at this for almost exactly one year. This idea was conceptualized at a summer institute held in Boulder, CO focused on global social entrepreneurship last June. Since that time, this idea has taken me to not only Nepal but also to Haiti to study the organization Meds and Food for Kids and how production of this fortified peanut butter is achieved in a developing countries with poor infrastructure.

SG: How far are you trying to take it?

MA: Our goal is to end severe acute malnutrition in Nepal. I never lose sight of the fact that malnutrition is a grave, avoidable injustice that should not exist in the 21st century. It’s important to realize that the availability of peanut butter itself will not end malnutrition. The product is one small piece. More important is the system that must be put in place to reach children in need. To do this well, it takes the collaboration of many organizations.

SG: How did you get started?

MA: In 2007, I feared death in Nepal after eating a nut sauce by mistake. As anaphylactic shock began, for a brief moment of my fortunate life, I felt just like the 1 Nepali child who dies of malnutrition every 14 minutes feels during her entire life:

Trapped. Helpless. Fearing the end. In urgent need of medical care.

Yet in an ironic twist of fate, I soon learned that the very product that threatens me with death could grant life to nearly 500,000 Nepali children threatened by malnutrition. It was too fateful to deny.

SG: How can we help?

MA: The best way to help right now is to follow developments on our Change.org blog, Twitter account, and our upcoming Facebook Fan Page which will be published shortly (search NepalNUTrition on FB). We have some really interesting developments in the works like trying to push a peanut butter company in the U.S. to engage in a cause-marketing campaign with our program as the beneficiary. We are also putting ourselves in a position to leverage the scaling up of a national nutrition program here in Nepal that is critical for the successful use of this peanut butter. We will need to push the donor community to fund the scaling up of such a program.

The tangible ways you can help, as well as an online portal to contribute tax-exempt charitable investments (our preferred term to donations), should all be up on our website that is currently being built by July 1st.

SG: What is the best way to contact you?

MA: We are currently small but gathering steam when it comes to PR & Communications. For now, just contact me directly with questions at: mark.arnoldy@nepalnutrition.org

Then we have our whole set of methods we are developing for you to follow, support, and share our cause.

We have a featured blog on Change.org that you can follow here: NepalNUTrition Blog
We use this blog to engage followers and supporters in actually designing solutions for our organization, not just as a place to pass on day-to-day information about our work.

You can also follow me on Twitter: @NepalNUTrition and @markarnoldy

Our Facebook Fan Page is currently being built but should be made public by June 19th.
Our website is currently being built, but should be up by July 1st.