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MALNUTRITION
Many of these women also come with malnourished
children. We’ve been able to treat
several with a special diet including a supplement (Ambrotose) we received from
the States and they have recovered beautifully.
Often, they are too far along and need to be hospitalized with an IV
pumping antibiotics and vitamins into their bodies, but we’ve also seen several
of these cases recover. You can’t
imagine how exciting it is when these once lethargic kids come walking up to us
smiling and healthy!
BERNARDIN AND HIS MOTHER
They don’t always recover.
One woman came to me with 1-year old twins, Bernard and Bernardin. Bernard was a fat, happy little baby. Bernardin, however, had all the symptoms of
malnutrition. We hospitalized him
immediately. But, it was too late. He was gone by the end of the day.
I wasn’t shocked he didn’t make it. But, what really broke my heart was this
mother. Her husband’s whereabouts are
unknown. She had come alone, 10 miles on
foot, carrying these twins the night before.
The nurses had given her a list of meds she needed to buy. (Have I explained that unless you have the
means to purchase everything from the gloves, thermometer, and syringes to all
prescribed meds you cannot receive care?
You must bring a cloth to cover the examining table and your bed. You must bring your own dishes and have
someone that can bring food and water to you.)
Anyway, she walked the 10 miles home and, begging family members
scrounged enough money to purchase half the meds. She was at my gate at 6:00 the next morning, asking for help with the rest of
the meds.
During the 5 hours and 5 doctors it took to get an IV into
Bernardin, her father-in-law came by. He
seemed kind enough and told us he would bring her food and clean clothes for
the child. We left before noon and returned at 6:00 that night, finding the room empty. We were informed Bernardin had died at 5:00.
Asking other women what had happened, they informed us the father-in-law
had left shortly after us and never returned.
So, not only did this woman not eat all day, but her baby died in her
arms and she walked him home the 10
miles alone! Oh, it made me sick that we
had not been there just one hour earlier and that she had gone through all this
completely alone. Nice
father-in-law.
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