Deep in the rural mountains of Haiti, in a dusty village where life is hard and food is scarce, 3-year-old Tisine’s eyes were glazed with pain.

​He showed signs of kwashiorkor, a horrible symptom of malnutrition that often causes intense swelling and extreme discomfort.

Sweet Mary Joy struggled to grow. She was 3 years old and weighed only 17.6 pounds, more than 10 pounds below what a 3-year-old normally weighs.

​​Her parents lived in a small mountainous community in the Philippines. Mary Joy’s father had a difficult time finding work, so they often didn’t have enough money to buy food.

They stared blankly. Their eyes said it all.

​The two brothers, Michelet, 9, and Machelet, 8, clung to each other along the edge of a steep rocky mountain path in Haiti. They had been abandoned by all of their loved ones and left alone to die.

​Michelet was so malnourished he couldn’t walk. Machelet suffered severe pain from bloating due to kwashiorkor (an excruciating form of malnutrition). They just sat by the road, hoping someone might help.