Lephania’s Struggle: A Family Fighting Against Malnutrition
This is the third time in just twelve months that little Lephania has been admitted to our Rescue Center. Her body is fragile, her weight dangerously low. Despite her parents’ best efforts and the support of two clinics, she has not been able to maintain her health at home.
When Lephania arrived most recently, she was severely malnourished with a -4 SD weight-for-height rating, one of the lowest points a child can reach on the World Health Organization scale. She had been suffering from diarrhea for a week, leaving her extremely weak and in urgent need of care.
The journey to the clinic was long and dangerous. Her father carried her for three hours on foot, then rode another two hours by motorcycle, passing through roads controlled by gangs just to reach help. Her mother, caring for a young baby, could not make the difficult trip with them.
Life for this family is marked by constant struggle. They live in a small four-room home made of sticks and clay, with a tin roof. Clean water is hard to come by—fetching it requires an hour’s walk each way—and they rely on an outhouse. With no electricity, there is no way to store food safely, and meat is only eaten on rare special occasions. Most days, the family is only able to afford one meal. Hunger is constant, and the children suffer first and most.
Her parents love their children deeply, but life is unbearably difficult, and it is hard to make ends meet. With only $45 a month from farming beans, corn, and millet, the income barely stretches to cover their most basic needs. To try and earn more, Lephania’s father often leaves for weeks or months at a time to find odd jobs in the Dominican Republic, leaving the family to manage as best they can.
Nutrition is another painful obstacle. Her mother believes she cannot breastfeed because of cultural traditions that say a baby cannot drink breast milk if the mother becomes pregnant again. This leaves the family relying on food they cannot afford and that does not meet Lephania’s needs.
Even though a local clinic near their home tries to support them with food, Lephania’s weight continues to drop whenever she returns home. Her parents try, but the reality is harsh: the cost of food, the burden of poverty, and the instability of life in Haiti are constant barriers.
Lephania’s story is not a simple story of success. It is a story of survival against the odds, of parents doing what they can with what little they have. It is also a reminder of why the Rescue Center must exist—because many children, like Lephania, need long-term care and support before they can thrive.