Minhaj Gedi Farah, a seven-month-old child who arrived with a weight of 7.5 pounds, Tuesday, July 26, 2011, at the International Rescue Committee hospital in the Eastern Kenyan village of Hagadera near Dadaab, 60 miles from the Somali border, is photographed in much better condition in his mother's hands, Saturday Aug. 6, 2011. (AP Photo)
Only 10 days ago, Minhaj Gedi Farah was too weak to cry and his skin crumpled liked thin leather under the pressure of his mother's hands. Now doctors say the severely malnourished 7-month-old appears out of danger of joining the more than 29,000 children who already have died in the famine.
It's a rare success story amid unimaginable misery for parents at the world's largest refugee camp - a place where a father must bury two of his daughters one day, and their brother the next.
Seven-month-old Minhaj though now weighs more than 8 pounds - still well below what he should for his age, but a major improvement from 7 pounds when he first arrived at a field hospital ward here.
"He is in stable condition and he is doing well," said Dr. John Kiogora of the International Rescue Committee, who has been treating the infant since his arrival in late July.
Startling photos of Minhaj's twig-like arms and hollow cheeks (one of which is at left) made him the frail face of the worst famine in 60 years. On Saturday, though, the wide-eyed baby looked around the ward inquisitively and became captivated with a journalist who was taking his picture.
It's a miracle for his mother, and a testament to just how hard doctors and other health care workers here are trying to save lives as more and more malnourished children arrive each day.
"He has no problem compared to the past days," said his mother Asiah Dagane, who now smiles broadly and frequently plants kisses on the baby's cheeks. "Now he sleeps the bulk of the night. When he wakes up, he is hungry and wants milk."
Most parents have been far less fortunate: New arrivals at Dadaab have described losing as many as four children to starvation and disease along the journey by foot from Somalia. Others made unthinkable decisions about which children to take with them, and which to leave for dead under trees so that the entire family did not perish.
As Minhaj's mother celebrated his recovery on Saturday, Muhumed Surow had to bury his 1-year-old daughter Liin, who died from malnourishment overnight after the family reached this refugee camp too late to save her.
The 27-year-old father sat about 10 yards away from the thigh-deep grave of his little girl. Dozens of refugees attended the funeral at the edge of Ifo Extenision, part of the Dadaab camps. Surow sobbed in a squatting position as fellow mourners tried to console him.
"I was not thinking of losing a child when I was coming to this country. I was instead saying to myself that Kenya is a peaceful country. But when I came, I found a bad country, where wind blows every time. And that affected our children. The sadness you see is because of that," said Surrow, whose 3-year-old Alaso has survived.
His wife's mourning is tinged with hope for the future after she gave birth to a baby boy, Hamdi, just two days before her 1-year-old died.
"I'm pained and saddened by the loss of my daughter. I can't do anything about it. But I pray to God to give me a good replacement that lives a long life," said the 24-year-old mother, Hamaro Mohamed.
Source: The Associated Press
Greetings.
ReplyDeleteWe here in Brazil, hoping always happen good results for many children Somalis fleeing war and hunger, as the case of the baby Minhaj.
It's a great news to know that his good recovery and is safe in the arms of their parents.
Good luck to all those who dream one day to end hunger and war in the world.