Andwesline is 11 months old and weighs 10 pounds. She was brought to the clinic by her mother.  She has been sick for several months.  For a week before arriving at the clinic, she had been having diarrhea and fever.  Her mom was also very sick.  Shortly after she was admitted, she had to be put on oxygen where she remained for 2 months.  Her mom came back 2 weeks later and told us she tested positive for TB. Andwesline was started on medications and slowly began to get better.  Each day we did not think she would live, but she kept fighting. She has 2 other older siblings.  Her mom buys items in bulk and resells them for a profit and her dad helps build houses.  The family lives in a 1 room home made of block, tin and cement. They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse.  The family gets their water from a piped system that is near their home. They traveled 2 hours by motorcycle and taxi to arrive at the clinic. She was started on the F-75 therapeutic milk and then graduated to the medika mamba program.

Benson is 10 months old and weighs 9 pounds. He was very sick with diarrhea and fever.  It was on the weekend when he got sick and his mom (Lamercie) took him to the cholera treatment center.  She stayed there for a few days and was ready to be discharged, but had no place to go. Benson was malnourished as well as his mom so we admitted them both to the inpatient malnutrition center for care.  The dad is working and saving up money to be able to rent a place for them to stay once they get well.  Benson and his mom are very close and she does a wonderful job caring for him.  She loves him dearly.  She gave birth to 6 children and all the other ones have died.  She said they all died when they very little babies so she has hope that he will make it.  She has been learning how to care for him while she is here and has been receiving lots of education from the nannies and nurses.

Bethchina was 11 month old when admitted and weighted 13 pounds. She then lost 3 pounds from her edema caused by her kwashiorkor. She was brought to the clinic by her mother.  She had been sick for several weeks.  Her symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea, fever and edema from kwashiorkor. Her mother said that she did not breastfeed her because her milk never came in.  She fed her formula the first 2 weeks of life and then switched to baby food, bean sauce, mashed up crackers and other food that she thought would be good for her.  This is her first child so we spent a lot of time talking with her and doing education on breastfeeding. Her mother does not work and her father is a farmer.  They have gardens where they plant bananas and beans. They live in a 3-room home made of sticks, tin and clay.  They do not have running water or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse.  Betchina was started on F-75 therapeutic milk and then moved the medika mamba program.

Geralma was brought the clinic by her father.  She has been sick for 6 months. Her edema, caused by severe malnutrition, started about 3 weeks ago.  She has diarrhea, stomachache, and a cold. She lives in a 1 room home made of cinder block, cement and tin. She has 2 living siblings and 2 that have died. The parents are farmers and grow sweet potatoes, roots and eggplant in their gardens. They do not have running water at their home or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse.  They buy their water from a vendor near their home.  They traveled 2 hours by motorcycle and taxi to arrive at the clinic.

Mylove came to the clinic with her grandmother, mother and father.  Mylove has been living with her maternal grandparents since she was a baby.  Her mom lived there and cared for her until she was about 1 year old and then moved away to try and find work.  She comes to visit her every few months.  Her grandmother said she has been losing weight for several months and her stomach has been growing larger each week.   Her grandparents live in a 2 room home made of rocks, clay and tin.  They do not have running water in their homes or a flush toilet, but do have an outhouse.  They get their water from a piped system that is near their home.  They traveled 5 hours by foot and motorcycle to arrive at the clinic.  She also had edema in her legs.  We started her on the F-75 therapeutic milk and then graduated her to the medika mamba program.  The edema in her stomach slowly decreased and she lost a total of 10 pounds in water weight.