Valdine

February 29, 2012: A healthy baby girl is born in a town called Dondon. Her mama names her Valdine.

January 31, 2013: This eleven month old baby comes to see us with her mama. She is breastfeeding and weighs almost 20 pounds! We reassure mom that her baby is doing well and does not currently need one of our programs. Like we always do, we told mom that she could bring Valdine back to see us if she is worried about her.

March 6, 2014: It's been thirteen months since we last saw baby Valdine. She just celebrated her second birthday and she comes to see us again. She still weighs only 19.5 pounds. Mom is worried about her young daughter...

During the time between her visits to COTP, Valdine stopped breastfeeding. She no longer got all of the nutrition she needed from her mother's milk. She lost weight and her body began to swell with the signs of kwashiorkor. Her hair thinned out and started turning orange. Her mama didn't know what to do, so she brought her baby back to see us. We agreed that Valdine needed assistance and enrolled her in our mamba program. Valdine was eager to try her medika mamba, although she was not a fan of her new antibiotic and protested loudly as we gave it to her! Her mom listened closely to every instruction we gave and plans to bring her baby back in a couple weeks to get weighed and receive more mamba. We are praying that very soon, Valdine will again become a happy, healthy little girl.