Helping children recover from malnutrition in Sudan: Adan’s story

 

Save the Children with support from European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) is implementing a nutrition programme targeting malnourished children in Kalamendo and Jabrat Elsheikh localities in Sudan. The nutrition programme involves providing high quality nutrition supplements to help children suffering from Moderately Acute Malnutrion (MAM) and Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) recover from the illness. 

 

Adan is an 18 months old girl from North Kordofan State in Sudan. Adan’s father is a casual laborer and her mother Zainab is a housewife. As the first born child for her parents, she was well taken care of, but one day Adan got sick and started having diarrhoea. Her health deteriorated and soon after she started losing weight.

 

Adan’s mother took her to a local hospital supported by Save the Children and Adan was diagnosed with Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM). Her Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) was less than 12cm, a common characteristic for children suffering from malnutrition. Adan was immediately admitted in the Out-Patient Therapuetic Programme (OTP) and provided with Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF) a supplement recommended for patients suffering from MAM. After receiving regular treatment for two months Adan’s health started to significantly improve. Currently, her MUAC is 13cm, she has gained weight - nearly a kilogram, and her diarrhea has completely stopped.

 

 

“My daughter is 18 months old and she was in good health but suddenly got diarrhea. My neighbor advised me to take her to the nutrition center. I took her to the nutrition center and they enrolled her in Therapeutic Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP)”, says Zainab.

 

“Through the program’s nutrition education sessions, I have gained very useful knowledge about how to provide a diverse diet to my daughter, as well as good hygiene practices. I have also learned how the breast feeding can prevent further malnutrition for my children. Now, my daughter’s health and nutrition condition has started improving and I want to thank Save the Children and ECHO for what they are doing for our children,” she adds.

 

Save the Children is working closely with the communities to strengthen resilience through awareness raising and involving the community in the intervention. Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW) have also benefited from the programme through access to integrated health, nutrition and WASH services at the facilty and community level.