In July, I met an adorable little boy. He came to the gate with his grandma and a neighbor. They unknowingly came on a day when we do not normally see people, but our gate guy told me it was a new, small baby so I agreed to see him, thinking that maybe the baby needed attention and care that could not wait another day. However, I soon realized that this was not a newborn baby, but a toddler. As I walked toward the little group, I began to see why they had come. Little buddy's hair had turned almost blonde from malnutrition and was practically as straight as mine. I soon learned that his mama had died nine months ago and he has been living with his grandma ever since. He has three big brothers who are living with their dad. He had kwashiorkor, a form of malnutrition that causes extreme swelling and was hospitalized with this for over two weeks. They family heard about us at the hospital and came to see if we could help them.
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| Meeting Day |
As I greeted him, the almost-three-year-old reluctantly let me hold his hand. I asked him how he was and he refused to answer. His grandma asked him to answer me and he replied, "I don't want to talk to her because she might hit me." I promised him I would never do that and we continued on. Soon, I heard him asking his grandma if this was where he was going to stay; grandma told him yes. They came to us perfectly ready to leave this sweet boy in a stranger's hands... She told me she did not want to leave him forever, but just for help so that he could become healthy again. Praying my way through it, I explained how it is better for kids to stay with their families while they get better. I told her about our medika mamba (medical peanut butter) program and asked her what she thought. She told me that I work here and know best, but her face immediately lit up as she entertained the possibility of her grandson going home with her.
We weighed baby boy (who was again afraid of being hit by me, the stranger), and as I recorded the number, both grandma and neighbor asked me if he weighed well. I couldn't bring myself to tell them that he needed to gain several more pounds to be at a healthy weight, but instead told them it wasn't too bad and he would start to gain weight very soon from eating his peanut butter. They smiled at this response. I explained the program to them and sent them on their way, praying they understood and would do what was necessary to help little buddy gain weight and get healthy.
Over the next few weeks, they faithfully came back to every rendezvous, so we could do a weigh-in and give them more mamba. Their first visit back, grandma proudly showed me that little buddy's hair was growing in black, an obvious sign of his improved nutrition. She asked me for a photo of her grandson, which I promised her I would give her when he graduated the program.
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| Graduation Day |
And today, she got her photo. In nine and a half weeks, little buddy's hair grew back in, black and healthy. He got a haircut, allowing him to lose that visible sign of past malnutrition. He gained over five pounds. He is healthy, and grandma is happy. Clearly, though, little buddy never quite warmed up to me or the camera. ;)
