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Writer's pictureBert Levi

Rolex Laureate Felix Brooks Church



Healthy loaf of bread with fortified flour

One of the most exciting things about Rolex for me has nothing at all to do with watches but instead a lot to do with how the company spends some of the money it makes because of the sale of watches. Their Perpetual Planet Initiative has a number of programs designed to make this world a safer, better, and of course, perpetual place. One of the programs is called the Rolex Award for Excellence, where an entrepreneurial person is recognized for a fresh approach to a global problem.


What about malnutrition?


Did you know poor nutrition is a leading cause of preventable child deaths? Up to fifteen-thousand worldwide every day! A 2021 recipient of the Rolex Award for Excellence is trying to change that. His name is Felix Brooks-church, and what he’s done is remarkable.

His invention, the Sanku Dossifier, was listed as one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2019. It addresses micronutrient malnutrition. In developed countries, food is fortified on a regular basis, addressing micronutrient malnutrition easily. Food lacks essential vitamins and minerals for development for more than two billion people worldwide. This is of nutrient lacking staple foods and a lack of variation.


This means a lack of vitamin A, iodine, folic acid, and more. The absence of these nutrients in the diet affects mental development, vision, and overall health. The likelihood of complications during pregnancy or other health issues is exponentially higher. The Sanku Dossifier adds these nutrients to flour in small flour mills throughout Africa. The program, the Sanku Project Healthy Children (SPHC) distributes the machines to the flour mills and also distributes the nutrient additives at no additional cost to the mill, accomplishing that by selling empty flour bags to the mills at the same price as bags they already buy.


For me, Rolex involving itself in endeavors to make the world a better place is an impressive and exciting thing. What do you think?

 

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