Ethiopia

Back to life

“When we started here, the situation was desperate,” says Dr. Alemach Teklehaimanat, who helped build the centre for severely malnourished children. “There were nights when four children died. But in the last two weeks all have survived. We even manage to pull children through who only have 50 per cent of their normal weight.”
Around three years old, Tatma is sitting on the floor of the health station looking exhausted. She weighs only 7.4 kilogrammes and came to the centre with her mother a few days ago. Her family is from Amale, approximately 20 kilometres from Goda.

© UNICEF Ethiopia/2003/Harboe

Nesteho, 9, collects her nine-month-old cousin at the UNICEF-sponsored therapeutic feeding centre in Gode Hospital. After 23 days of therapeutic feeding, Nesteho's cousin gained a killogramme and now weighs 7,7 kilogrammes.

Tatma first received a measles shot. “If only one of the newly-arrived kids has measles, it could have lethal consequences for all of them,” explains Dr. Teklehaimanat. Severely-malnourished children have no power to fight the disease. Many suffer from pneumonia, diarrhoea or dermatological infections. Sixty-five of the 200 children in the centre have tuberculosis and are treated in a separate ward to prevent contamination.
Four times a day, Tatma receives an enriched milk product and soon after she began treatment, she was able to eat a high-protein biscuit. “It always seems like a miracle to see the children come to life a little bit more every day when they receive proper treatment,” says Dr. Teklehaimanat.

Rain: the two sides of the coin

While rain has fallen and brings life, it also brings new problems.
“Clean water is more expensive than bread,” says Dr. Teklehaimanat. The water station, which UNICEF set up in Gode in the mid-1990s, can only deliver small amounts of water as pipelines are blocked by the mud. Most people now drink water from the River Shabelle, which has turned into a brown-green stream. Those who can afford it buy water that has been chlorinated, even if this does not guarantee sufficient cleanliness. The number of diarrhoea cases and skin diseases has risen considerably.
With UNICEF’s help, children in Gode receive milk and high protein biscuits in two feeding centres daily. Wool and plastic covers as well as water containers have also been distributed.