ERIMENE

She is 6 years old and weighs 22 1/2 pounds. She was referred to us by Community Health Initiative.   She has 4 livings siblings and 1 that die from fever. The family lives in a 2 room home made of wood and tarps.  They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, not even an outhouse.  They get their water from a source that is about a 15 walk from their home.   Erimene’s mama buys items in bulk and resells them for a profit.  Her papa is a farmer and grows beans and corn in his gardens.  She has been losing weight for several months now and began showing signs of kwashiorkor about 1 month ago.  The day she was admitted she had a plate of rice to eat and the day before she had a banana and juice.  They traveled 6 hours by foot and tap-tap to arrive at the clinic.  The family’s average monthly income is $51.00US.  She was started on the f-75 therapeutic milk and then transferred to the medika mamba program.

JEAN LUCKSON

He is 7 years old and weighs 25 pound. He was referred to us from Community Health Initiative.  He has 4 living siblings and 2 that died when they were newborns.  His papa died several years ago.  His mama has gardens of beans and corn.  The family lives in a 2 room home made of woods, clay and brush.  They buy their water from a vendor that lives close to their home.  His mama tells us he has been losing weight for about 3 months now.  The day he was admitted he had soup to eat and the day before he had a plate of rice. The family’s average monthly income is $113US.  They traveled 6 hours by foot and tap-tap to arrive at the clinic.  His mama believes that there just is not enough food for everyone and that is why he is losing weight.  He was started on the F-75 therapeutic milk and then graduated to the medika mamba program.

ANDREMENE

She is 4 years old and weighs 20 1/2 pounds.  She was in our outpatient nutrition program and abandoned treatment.  In a few months time she became increasingly worse and began to develop signs of kwashiorkor.  Andremene has 1 other sibling at home.  Her parents are farmers and they grow corn, grains and beans.  The family lives in a 4 room home made of dirt, stick and tin.  They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse.  They get their water from a river that in close to their home.  Andremene traveled for 4 hours on a horse to arrive at the clinic.  The family’s average monthly income is around $57US.  She was started on the F-75 therapeutic milk and then graduated to the medika mamba program.

LOUDINIA

She is 15 months old and weighs 17 pounds.  She has 1 living sibling at home.  The family lives with extended family members and there are 13 people living in a 2 room home.  Both parents are farmers and grow beans in their garden.  They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, not even an outhouse.  The family gets their water from a source that is about a 30 minute walk from their home.  The family’s average monthly income is around $113US.  They traveled about 3 hours on a motorcycle to arrive at the clinic.  Her family thinks that she has kwashiorkor because the mama breastfed her for a few months after she was pregnant with another child.  She was started on the F-75 therapeutic milk and then graduated to the medika mamba program.

MANIA

She is 8 days old and weighs 3 pounds 12 ounces.  Her mama is very ill could not make a trip to the hospital.  Mania was very jaundice when arriving and was severely dehydrated.  She had only had sugar water since birth. She has 2 other living siblings at home and 2 that have died when they were newborn babies.  Her parents are farmers and grow beans and pumpkins in their gardens.  The family of 4 lives in a 2 room home made of clay, sticks and tin.  They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse.  They get their water from a piped system  that is about a 15 minute walk from their home.   The family’s average monthly income is around $170US.  It took her papa 5 hours to make it to the clinic by foot and motocycle.

after one week

 NAFTALIE

She is  2.5 years old and weighs 19 pounds. (she has already lost 3 pounds of weight due to her edema).  She was referred to us by Children’s Health Ministries.  Both of her parent buy items in bulk and resell them at a higher price for a profit.  She has one other livings sibling at home. They family of 6 lives in a 2 room home made of sticks, clay and tin.  They do not have running water at their home, or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse. The days she was admitted she has cornmeal to eat and the day before she had soup and coffee.  She has been showing signs of kwashiorkor since the month of Sept.  Her glucose levels were in the 40’s when admitted with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea.  Her family’s average monthly income is around $80US.  Her papa thinks that she is this sick because she does not eat well.

NATALIE

She is 4 years old and weighs 21 pounds She was referred to us by  Community Health Initiative. She comes from a family of 6 siblings, 5 are living and 1 has died of fever and malnutrition.  Her parents are farmers and grow beans, corn and bananas.  The family of 7 lives in a 2 room home made of sticks, dirt and tin.  They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse. They get their water from a piped system that is about a 5 minute walk from their home.  She has been malnourished for a long time, her skin is splitting in some places and all of her hair has fallen out.  The day she was admitted she had some crackers to eat and the day before she had a plate of rice. Her families average monthly income is $34US.  Her mama say she has no idea why her daugher is this sick.  She was started in the F-75 therapeutic milk and then was transferred to the medika mamba program.

 NATALIE

She is 4 years old and weighs 20 pounds.  She was referred to us by  Community Health Initiative.  Both of her parents are farmers and grow beans and corn in their gardens.  She is the only living child in her family.  Three others had died of malnutrition.  The family of 3 lives in a 2 room home made of sticks, dirt and tin.  They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, not even an outhouse. The family gets their water from a source that is about a 5 minute walk from their home.  Her mama says she has had a stomach ache since birth and has been losing weight for a few months.  The day she was admitted she had fried flour balls to eat and the day before a plate of rice.  Her family’s average month income is around $45Us. She was started in the F-75 therapeutic milk and then transferred to the medika mamba program.