Rebekah's Story

We received 6 year old Rebekah in clinic this week.  She looked like the wind might knock her over, weighing a whopping 22 pounds (and a few of those pounds are edema- extra water in her skin).  One of the telltale signs of malnutrition is a blank face, no emotion, no reaction.  Its essential to understand the cause of malnutrition so that we can work on a solution early on (for example, if there is an underlying illness like TB or parasites that need to be treated).  It came out the Rebekah is an orphan.  The woman who brought her to clinic is her grandfather's daughter-in law.  All other closer relations are dead.  I asked her guardian who many biological children she has at home- 7.  "And how old are they?" I wondered.  Oldest is 14, down to youngest who is 3.  "And who is taking care of them at the tent camp while you are here with orphaned Rebekah?" I wondered again.  Her other 7 kids are alone at the camp, and now their source of daily food- their mother working in someone else's farms and earning $2/day- is not available to them.  Her 7 other kids hadn't eaten since she'd come to the hospital to take care of Rebekah.....

Can you imagine? Leaving your 7 kids behind with no food or protection, for a poor, weak, suffering orphan?  This is love.  AND it puts this woman in an impossible place.  Its not decision anyone should ever have to make.....

I handed this woman $5 and suggested she go back to the camp to take care of and feed her biological kids and that her 14 year old daughter come to the hospital to care for Rebekah.  Thanks to your gifts, we have a kitchen at the hospital for our Internally Displaced Persons patients.  They receive nutritious porridge and one meal a day while at the hospital.  She couldn't stop say, "God bless you, God bless you, may God bless you."  

Once Rebekah has started gaining some weight and her fevers, and diarrhea have ceased, we will discharge her back to the camp.  From there, we will weigh her every week and give her a bag of nutritious porridge powder that we make with local ingredients (soy, peanuts, millet, corn).  We don't really have the funds to do an outpatient nutrition project like this, but we can't say no to Rebekah.  Her life is beautiful and oh so fragile.  Thanks for being on this journey with us.