Aug 3 2011. Late in the day we were called to the clinic to see a severely malnourished child who was 10 months old but weighed only 10 lbs, about half of normal according to WHO standard growth curves.

Little Income

The mother, Patricia, 35, had stopped producing milk when little Katwili was only one month old. She substituted goat milk and a little porridge. She has not thrived. Patricia has 7 other children aged 3 to 15 years old. Her husband hauls water and sell it at the market. No one else in the family can work, and with the drought the garden produced nothing last year.

No Supplemental Food

The have a few chickens, but no other animals. Today, the baby had a cough, Patricia took her to the Katangi Health Center, but seeing the malnourished state of the baby and because they had no PlumpiNut for supplemental feeding, they sent her to our clinic–several hours on a motorcycle taxi away.

Large Family

On investigation, we learned that there are six other children and a husband in the family. Mbitha was a twin and her brother died last month after a brief illness.

Your support can help

Would you like to help this family? Global Health Partnerships is establishing a fund to be administered by the head nurse to help the most vulnerable families. Consider setting up monthly credit card donation of $50, $1.60 per day, for Patricia and her family. Every cent will help this family and we’ll send you occasional updates and photos.