Senahu Nutrition Program

I don't know if you have heard yet from Lauren, but we were together in Senahu for the Incaparina distribution last week. It was pretty tough... Passing through San Nicolas we were stopped by one of the mothers carrying a small child with severe burns all over its torso. We took them to meet the ambulance, and then in Senahu came a family whose toddler daughter had also badly burnt her arm the day before. They walked for five hours through the mountains to pick up their Incaparina, and then took her to the health centre for treatment. Protecting children from accidents around the fire is definitely something we will be including in the health education films...

This time the distribution took place in the town's maternal centre

(one room). Next time we have been promised use of a larger

facility where we won't have to all get wet in the rain.

All the children were weighed...

... and their weights recorded. We now have the help of two

health centre staff, as well as one woman, Matilde, who is paid for the day.

Lauren helped enormously with this and the education films

- as well as working for WHO. We really are very grateful and hope to

see her here again soon.

This is was Petrona last year (I sent you pictures of her in January).

We didn't think she would survive.

This is Petrona now, recovered and with her cleft palate

operated on by US surgeons in Antigua.

It was good to be able to tell this mother that her child will also

be able to have the surgery once she has been on the programme

for a few months and is stronger.

This 22-year-old mother arrived at the centre asking for Incaparina

for her child. Normally she would have had to be referred by a doctor

or health worker, but in her case we made an exception. Her husband

had died suddenly three weeks earlier. The shock stopped the milk

for her 4-day-old baby, and she had been left with no money to buy any,

nor feed herself or her other child.

This child, new to the programme, has normal weight

only because of swelling, but shows the scalp sores

symptomatic of malnutrition.

The next Incaparina distribution will be end October.

Later this month I will meet with health centre staff to review

weights, etc. A couple of children's weights hadn't increased.

It seems they are fed nothing but the Incaparina, since there

is no money to buy them food, which is why they ended up

on the programme in the first place. We will also be looking

at a strategy to deal with these cases.

Thank you, as ever, for your support and kind regards to Susan,

Yvonne