EXIMENE

She is 11 months old and weighs 11 pounds.  Her mother died when she was 4 months old and her papa has been trying to care for her.  She also has another sister that is older than her.  Her father is a farmer and grows beans, corn and yams.  She lives in a 2 room house that is made of rock and tin.  They do not have running water at their home and walk to a source that is about 10 minutes away to collect water.  They do not have a flush toilet at their home or even an out house.    Her diet for the past few weeks has been lots of rice, cracked corn, potatoes and spaghetti.  The do not often find meat to eat and normally eat once a day. At 11 months old she can sit but is not yet crawling.  This worries her papa.  She was started on the F-75 therapeutic milk and stayed on this for 6 days then started eating the medika mamba.  She is in the first stages of kwashiorkor.

GAELLE

She is 20 months old and weighs 19 pounds.  Several months ago her mother was selling in the local market and fell over and died.  She has 3 other siblings at home.  Her father is a tap-tap (taxi) driver.  Gaelle eyes are crossed and the often shake back and forth rapidly. They do not have running water in their house but  there  is a source about 10 minutes away.  They do not have a flush toilet but do have a outhouse in the yard.  Her father also has a small garden with banana’s and beans.  She is in the beginning stages of kwashiorkor and has been ill for about 15 days.  Her diet is mostly rice, corn and grains.  In the last week she has had milk, meat, and greens just once to eat.  She was place on the F-75 therapeutic milk for several days and is currently on the medika mamba program.

 JVENSLEY

He is 10 months old and weighs 13 pounds.  His mom died in a car accident when he was 5 months old.  No one knows who his father is.  Since his mother’s death he has been living with an aunt in Port.  She is unable to work due to her caring for Jvensley and his 3 other brothers.  They live in a 1 room house with 5 people made of block and tin.  There is not a local source of water so they buy treated water to use.  This past week he has had meat once, corn, yams, coffee and mango’s.  A few weeks ago his aunt began to notice his feet swelling and her neighbors told her to take him to a clinic.  She went to a local clinic and they told her she needed to feed him and did not have any medications for him.  Some other neighbors told her about RHFH and so she came to seek help for her nephew.  He did well on the F-75 therapeutic milk and is currently on the medika mamba.

MANIA

She is a newborn and weighs 8 pounds.  Her mother delivered her at home with a local midwife.  She birthed on the floor of her home.  When she stood up to move to a bed she began to bleed.  She bleed a lot.  It took them several hours to locate a vehicle to take her to a hospital.  She died on the way there.  The midwife that delivered her cared for Mania until they brought her to the clinic.  She came with a few aunts, and her papa.  They all love her but all have to work to survive and all have children of their own.  There are also 5 other children in the family that the father is trying to care for.  So many people her are so fearful when the child is a baby.  Once they are walking they are more at ease to care for them.  By this time we can have them off of infant formula and eating food like they will eat when they return home. 

NOVELIE

She is 16 months old and weighs 16 pounds.  She is the only child of her mother.  Her mama was in school and got pregnant while living away from her family.  She returned home to have the baby and stayed with her mother.  When Novelie was admitted she had a terrible eye infection.  Her mama was very upset and said that she was sure both of her eyes were popped.  After a few days of medication she was able to open her eyes and is doing well.  She lives in a 3 room house that is made of rock and tin.  She does not have running water at her home or an outhouse.  Her diet mainly consists of coffee, bread and rice.  She was on the f-75 therapeutic milk for 6 days and is currently on the medika mamba program.

The baby on the left is Sondy ( 2 pounds 8 ounces) and the one on the right is Mana ( 2 pounds 4 ounces).  They are not related and were here for a few days before being transferred to GLA.  Mana died a few days later and Sondy continues to do well.

REMYSON

He is 5 years old and weighs 23 pounds.  He lives in a 2 room house made of rock and tin with his mom and 4 siblings.   Their home is near the local piped water system so they do not have to go far to find water.  They have a outhouse at their home.    Remyson has been swollen with kwashiorkor for over a month now.  We started him slowly with the F-75 therapeutic milk and then began giving him medika mamba each day.  In the week before being admitted dhe had  milk and ate soup  made of bread and chicken bouillon.  He currently is eating well and recovering slowly.