Nutrilite™ Power of 5 Campaign Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of Partnership with Alliance for Children Everywhere in Zambia

Five years ago the Nutrilite™ Power of 5 campaign partnered with the Alliance for Children Everywhere to serve the nutritional needs of children and families in Zambia, a landlocked country in southern Africa.

“Our organization has been in Zambia since 1997,” said Cari Armbruster, executive director for the Alliance for Children Everywhere. “The amount of poverty and disease is great, with 16 being the average age of local residents. The country also possesses one of the highest rates of orphans in Africa.”

In the fall of 2011, the Nutrilite™ Power of 5 campaign joined the Alliance’s “Milk and Medicine” program to offer the micronutrient Nutrilite™ Little Bits™ to children age 5 and under.  Today, there are more than 370 children in the program, representing 320 families. Each family is seen by the organization’s staff members once a month at six district locations – and many walk, bike, or take a bus to their site.

“Our number one goal in Zambia is to preserve the family.  Many come to us in crisis – not even knowing where their next meal will come from,” said Cari. “Nutrition and nurture are the first steps toward strength and empowerment for many of them.”

Jeff Terry, global manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at Amway, shared that in the past few years, more than a couple thousand children have been served by the Zambia Power of 5 campaign. He added, “The transformation for many is visibly evident and amazing. We see it with each return trip we make.”

Each one gram packet of Nutrilite™ Little Bits, as a daily part of a child’s daily regimen, contains the 15 essential vitamins and minerals that children ages 5 and under need to survive, thrive, and grow.

“What we are doing goes beyond just nutrition, it’s impacting the full life continuum,” said Cari. “A child impacts the family, the family impacts their community, the community impacts a nation, and a nation can impact the world.”

Cari knows the first-hand the effects of malnutrition, as she was a registered nurse before joining the Alliance board of directors in 2007.  After seven years on the board, she stepped into service as the organization’s executive director.

In five short years the relationship between the Nutrilite Power of 5 campaign and the Alliance for Children Everywhere has evolved from just meeting the daily nutritional needs of children, to involving top Amway Business Owners to experience and personally participate in the program’s impact first hand. 

“We are tightly aligned,” said Jeff. “I look forward to a long relationship together – creating a solid template other countries implementing the Power of 5 campaign can follow. Five years is just the beginning!”