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Center Newbies

Name: Mickerlange

DOB: March 13, 2012

Date of Admit: October 31,, 2017

Weight upon admit: 31.6 pounds

Mickerlange is a 5-year-old female who lives with both of her parents and 5 siblings in a two-room house made of rocks, clay and tin. They have a small out house. The closest water is an hour away. Her father is a farmer and grows corn, beans and pumpkins. Her mother helps with the farm and takes care of all the children. It took the 8 hours to get to the clinic. They traveled by foot, tap-tap and moto.

The parents report that she began to have swelling in September and she was taken to a clinic and given some medicine and the swelling went away.  Her parents report that she was running and playing with her siblings, but that she began the swelling again after a few weeks. Her parents tell us that she has been vomiting everything she eats and that she has had a fever and cough. Their diet consists mainly of corn, rice, eggplant, bananas and some meat.

Name: Stanley

DOB: September 10, 2015

Date of Admit: November 7, 2017

Weight upon admit: 17.4 pounds

Stanley is a 25-month-old that came to clinic with severe malnourishment. The patient lives with his father after his mother left. The father tells us that when Stanley got sick with diarrhea she brought him back to the father and left him. He has fever, cough and diarrhea although the father doesn’t know how long he has been ill. Stanley’s father doesn’t think he has ever been seen in another clinic and has never had any vaccines.

They live in a three-room-house made of rocks, mud and tin. There are currently eight people living in the home.  They are ten minutes from the nearest water source. Their diet consists rice, beans and bananas. The father walked to the clinic and carried Stanley for three hours to receive treatment for his son. Stanley has swelling in his feet and legs from severe acute malnutrition. His stomach is also dissented from the malnutrition.

Name: Edisson

DOB: March 13, 2017

Date of Admit: November 7, 2017

Weight upon admit: 8.4 pounds

Edisson is a 7-month-old that came to clinic with severe acute malnourishment (SAM). The patient lives with his mother, grandparents and three siblings. His grandmother is hi primary caregiver and she says his mother “has something wrong with her mind”.  The grandmother tells us that Edisson got sick with diarrhea so she brought him to the clinic because she thought “he was getting very bad”. She reports that he has been vomiting for three weeks. He then began having a fever and diarrhea a week later. She also states he has a bad cough and one of his sisters also has a cough. One of his sister has been treated at the Rescue Center, and she is doing much better.

They live in a two-room-house made of block and tin and have a small out house. There are currently eight people living in the home.  His diet consists mashed bananas, la bouye (soup) and crackers. They came 45 minutes by moto to receive treatment for Edisson. His stomach is dissented from the malnutrition.

Name: Phanel

DOB: October 15, 2014

Date of Admit: November 8, 2017

Weight upon admit: 23.3 pounds

Phanel is a 3-year-old male who came to the clinic with sever acute malnutrition. The father report that he had swelling when he returned home from the hospital with the child’s mother. The father tells us that the mother was in the hospital for a month and has been very ill and is unable to walk or care for Phanel.  The father reports that Phanel has not had a fever, vomiting or any diarrhea.

He lives with both parents and one sibling in a two-room house made of rocks, clay and tin. They have a small out house. The closest water source is two hours away.  Their diet consists mainly of corn, rice, and some meat including fish.  Phanel has edema in his entire body. His abdomen is severely distended. They traveled four hours to the clinic to seek treatment for Phanel.

Comments(2)

  1. tanya says

    Less a comment and more a question.
    I see that many of these parents grow and sell beans on their land. With the trouble the children(people in general) have getting nutrients like protein, why are beans not a large part of the diet?
    As a vegan/vegetarian, I use beans (pinto, black, kidney, white, really, most any beans that I find, I’ll try at least once) as a solid part of my protein intake.
    Or maybe I don’t truly understand the K/Severe malnutrition that occurs in Haiti?

  2. Licia says

    Good Question. Normal dishes of rice includes beans. Most families eat rice and beans every day, or corn and beans, or wheat and beans. When there is a bean crop they often sell all that they can for cash. To many it is better to buy white rice that can “fill up” more bellies and not have kids crying from being hungry each day. Or they use the funds for people they owe, or for rent, or for hospital bills, or for deaths, or for…other expenses. All of us here on the ground know a big key to change is education. Which we do a lot of with the families and patients. Change takes time an change is hard for many people. Little by little change is happening and that is encouraging to us.

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