Between July and September 2015, 30 malnourished children were treated at Neesim Nutrition Centre. Some children regain their health quickly, whilst other cases are more complicated.
Sulemana* was one of our difficult cases. He came from a poor family and his two older siblings had already been malnourished and successfully rehabilitated in the centre. Soon after he was born his mother died and he was left with his grandmother. They came to the nutrition centre when Sulemana was six months old and he was successfully rehabilitated over eight weeks. During this time his weight increased from 5.1kg to 7.2kg. However, Sulemana’s grandmother found it difficult to understand what we taught her about a balanced diet and hygiene, and struggled to put this into practice when they went home.
Sulemana began to suffer from body wasting again and came to the centre again at 12 months old weighing just 5.9kg. Due to Sulemana’s difficult family situation and some complicating health factors, he stayed in the nutrition centre with his grandmother for
17 weeks, much longer than usual. But we were pleased that he made a good recovery, becoming a happy child and starting to play. Sulemana was discharged weighing 7.9kg. Upon discharge his grandmother said, “Sulemana likes the nutrition centre more than home so he wants to come back!” Since the family live close by we will continue to monitor Sulemana from home.
*Assumed name