East Africa Child Hunger and Famine Relief Fund

In many ways, four-year-old Jacob is just like any other little boy his age. He likes playing with his friends, enjoys stories from his mother and is never happier than when eating!

Yet Jacob has more reason than most to look forward to his next meal. In rural Kenya where he lives, there’s very little food to go round.

His mother, Alice, told us more. “It is because of the drought that we are hungry,” she explained, “Because our livestock has died.” Losing their three goats was a bitter blow to the family and left them struggling desperately for survival.

With no milk or meat to live on, it’s no wonder that little Jacob grew sick – painfully thin, weak and wracked with diarrhea. But thankfully, Save the Children has set up an outreach health center not far from his home. And there, he was diagnosed with malnutrition and given a nutrient-rich peanut paste to save his life. It took eight long months to nurse Jacob back to health, but he was lucky enough to make a full recovery.

“His condition is now better,” says his relieved mother. “I can’t see any problems with him any more.” Now expecting another baby, she too has received help from our health center – including bags of special flour that she can turn into nutritious porridge. She’s also been taught about the importance of hygiene and given a bucket, bars of soap and a towel to encourage regular hand-washing.

“I am grateful, having the Save the Children center close at hand has changed everything for the family – and given everyone hope for the future for children’s in this area,” she says, as she watches Jacob play with his brother. Having our health.

In Jacob’s mother Alice’s own words: “During the drought Save the Children provided a lot of support, especially to my family. An outreach site had been established about 4km from here, and I was able to receive Corn Soya Bean, which is flour used to make porridge, medical care, a lot of check-ups just to find out if am okay. At the same outreach site they screened my son and provided him with Plumpy’Nut for 8 consecutive months. He is now healthier than before. They educated us on the importance of hygiene to reduce cases of diseases. Save the Children team provided us with a bucket which had bars of soap, and a towel for use after thorough hand washing. I am grateful for Save the Children’s work in this area.”

Thank you for your continued support!

At six-months-old, many babies start to sit up. They’ve usually been able to roll over for a while, but Sakariye couldn’t. He was too weak.

Sakariye’s* mum, Amran*, remembers the first time her son was seriously ill. “He was 15 days old. First, he had problems breathing, then he got measles.” Amran did her best to care for him. She tried to get him medicine. She breastfed him, but he continued to struggle. A baby’s health is closely linked to its mother’s and so it was for Sakariye and Amran.

Across East Africa, children like Sakariye are at risk. Changing weather patterns mean families can no longer count on the rains to come when they used to. Instead, they may get floods that destroy their homes, followed by a long, severe drought that kills their crops and livestock.

When drought caused food shortages in Somalia where the family lives, Amran did what any parent would do. She put her young children first. She gave them the little food she had, but then she fell ill.

“I wasn’t able to breastfeed Sakariye because I was sick and malnourished,” says Amran.

Sakariye began to get frequent diarrhea. He started vomiting and having fevers. He grew so weak he couldn’t turn over any more. Amran knew her baby was in danger. She brought him to Save the Children’s treatment center, where he was diagnosed with malnutrition and admitted.

Today, Amran is sitting by her son’s cot on the ward. She’s smiling because she has seen big changes in him during the last few days.

“It is good we are here,” she says. “Sakariye has started recovering. He receives food and medicines. They give him some nice therapeutic milk.” Sakariye is getting stronger and so is his mum. Amran is able to breast-feed again and she is looking forward to taking her son home.

All across East Africa, babies and young children are at risk of malnutrition. Save the Children is working to screen children and treat them with therapeutic food and medicine.

Close to 14 million people are in need of food assistance in the Horn of Africa: 2.7 million of them are in Somalia. Save the Children is on the ground providing support via Outpatient programs, Mobile Health Units Mother and Child Health programs and special Stabilization Centers in hospitals.

Thank you for your continued support!

*Names have been changed to protect identities