BRINELSON

He arrived at clinic early Tuesday morning.  He was in a coma and not well at all.  His mom had walked for 8 hours during the night carrying him from a village very far away.  He got worse throughout the night.  His glucose levels were very low and he was having lots of other problems.  We talked to his mother and we all agreed that he needed to be transferred into a hospital in Port.  His mama wanted to go back home and get some other family members to travel with her and prepare a bag to stay in town.  She also wanted to let them know how sick Brinelson was.  We kept him here with us and started medications and had him on oxygen throughout the night.  We expected the mama to arrive early the next morning so they could travel to hospital.  She never came.  Around 11am his papa and 2 other men came.  The mama was sure he had died and the men came together so that they could carry his body back home. 

They were delighted to find Brinelson sitting up and talking.  After 2 doses of medication he was awake and recovering.  It was to late in the day to travel into Port and he was so much better.  We all agreed that we would continue the same medications for him.  He continues to recover in the Rescue Center.

 GIDELENE

She is 2 years old and weighs 25 pounds.   She has kwshiorkor, fever, cold and a cough.   Her mom and dad both work in the gardens by their homes.  They grow cabbage, roots and yams.  The family of 7 lives in a 4 room house made of tin and rocks.  They do not have running water or a flush toilet at their house, not even an outhouse.  They walk about 30 minutes to a source of water near their home.   In the past week she has ate rice twice, drank coffee and had a mango and some bread.  No eggs, no meat, no protein at all.  Her dad sat a cried as he was listening to the nurse speak of the cause of her kwashiorkor.  He did not know lack of food/protein could cause someone to be this sick.  She is currently on the F-75 therapeutic milk and will begin medika mamba soon.

WIDALSON

He is 2 years old and weighs18 pounds.  He has kwashiorkor fever, cold, cough and a rash.  His father is a hougan and his mother does not work.  He has another brother at home as well.  His lives in a one room home that is made of tin and rocks.  They do not have running water in their home or a flush toilet not even an outhouse.  The mom walks 3 miles to the nearest water source to carry water back home for her family.  In the past week, before he was admitted,  Widalson has had broth from soup, spaghetti and rice to eat.  He is currently on the medika mamba program. 

WIDNIE

She is 14 months old and weighs 10 pounds.  She has kwashiorkor, cold, diar and a fever.  She is an only child.  She lives in a 2 room house with 7 people.  Their house is made from brush and tin.  They do not have running water at their house or a flush toilet.  They do have an outhouse at their home.  There is also a hand water well pump in front of their yard.   Widnie’s mom only breastfed her for 3 months and then stopped.  She has been trying to purchase milk but it is expensive for her.  Widnie likes to eat spaghetti, fish and mangos.  She is currently on the F-75  therapeutic milk and will be switching to the medika mamba program this week.

SKY-RONY

He was 18 months old and weighed 19 pounds.  He had a severe case of malnutrition and kwashiorkor.  He lived it a 2 room home made of brick and tin with 6 other people.  His home did not have running water or a flush toilet, they do have an outhouse. The nearest water source was about 15 minutes away.

In the week before her was admitted at RHFH he ate spaghetti 3 times, rice 3 times, corn meal 3 times and had some crackers.  This is the 3rd time he has had kwashiorkor in his short life.  He died and Thursday afternoon.

We had the honor of taking care of twin baby boys for 6 days this month.  They were born premature, the mother thinks she was only 6 1/2 months along.  They weighed in at 2 pounds 8 ounces and 3 pounds 8 ounces.  They were on oxygen and C-PAP machines the whole time.  We did our best but both of them died.  They were to fragile to move to another facility once they arrived here.

We also had 2 other children that came in this week that died.  One with O2 levels down in the 50’s.  Lori and Anna worked on the child, who had a severe resp infection and was having a difficult time breathing, for a few hours before she died.  Another small 4 month old with sepsis lived for about 8 hours on oxygen before she died. 

This made a total of 5 children that died this week.  We went the whole month of December with no death so this has been a hard week for us and the staff.

We appreciate your continued prayers for the families and staff here at RHFH.