Hope rises as Anjoy finds support to bring back little Mary's smile again
The mothers sat patiently waiting for their turn at the Primary Health Care Centre in Gurei, a suburb in Juba, South Sudan’s capital city. World Vision’s nutrition nurse Elizabeth Athanasio said Mondays are the busiest days when mothers are expected to come for their children’s malnutrition screening and follow-up check.
She added that the community nutrition volunteers have helped a lot in reaching out to mothers like Anjoy who struggle about their children’s health and nutrition in the midst of the hunger crisis in South Sudan.
In a red dress, Mary Namako looked around sadly, her eyes quizzical on people. She has been sick for three months and was brought to the local hospital several times, suffering from cough, diarrhea and frequently vomited the food she ate.
Only one year and eight months, her mother Anjoy Abdallah, 22, is worried about her youngest daughter’s condition. Mary looked weak and glassy-eyed, not reacting to people calling her name or trying to get her attention.
Hearing there was a sick baby in the neighborhood, a community nutrition volunteer visited Anjoy’s house and convinced her to visit Gurei Primary Health Care Center in Juba town for Mary to be tested and her health condition assessed.
World Vision has trained over 200 volunteers to do early detection and referral of malnutrition cases and help educate mothers in their own communities about health, proper nutrition and other life skills. Athanasio said the women have helped a lot in reaching out to mothers like Anjoy who struggle about their children’s health and nutrition in the midst of the hunger crisis in South Sudan.
The recent UN Report estimated that 21,000 people in the country could likely “face a catastrophic lack of food access”. In addition, 1.82 million will face an emergency and 5.12 million will deal with crisis levels of food insecurity. The report attributes this due to poor 2018 harvest, delayed rains, displacements and persistent instability brought about by the years of conflict.
Anjoy has moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to South Sudan four years ago when her sister Betty sent for her. Betty got married to a South Sudanese in Juba and decided to settle in the country permanently even after she separated from her husband.
“It took me two days of travel by car from our town in DRC”, says Anjoy. Both sisters are hoping for better life in Juba and help their parents and three siblings back in DRC. Many believe there are a number of Congolese people living in South Sudan but there is no documented report to confirm this.
However, at World Vision-supported Makpandu Refugee Camp located in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State which is home to around 4,000 refugees, many of the refugees come from the DRC.
A year after she moved to Juba, Anjoy met her husband Michael, 26 and she got pregnant of her first baby Nuella, now three years old. After she had her second baby Mary, Anjoy did not see Michael again. “I learned he has another wife and they have one child”, Anjoy shares. To support her children, Anjoy does odd jobs and gets help from her sister.
Athanasio confirmed to Anjoy that Mary was found with moderately acute malnutrition condition, a condition characterized by wasting and thinness of the body. Anjoy breastfeeds her but her supply of milk is always not enough for the baby. That day she received a supply of ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF).
Mary Modong, nutrition assistant gave Anjoy a thorough briefing on how to feed Mary and her schedule for follow-up in the center. If Mary’s condition will not improve after few weeks under the program, then she will have another medical test and referred for further treatment.
With the alarming hunger crisis in the country, World Vision’s Nutrition Project Manager Damaris Wanjiku has expressed concern over the state of the children’s health and describes it as “heartbreaking”. Last year, World Vision was able to reach out to over 438,000 children and lactating mothers but a lot more need help.