Amina's Journey: Overcoming Malnutrition Through Candlelight Support
Amina's Journey: Overcoming Malnutrition Through Candlelight Support
Introduction As highlighted in the Humanitarian Action for Children 2024 – Somalia and Somaliland report, the nutritional status of 1.5 million children under the age of 5 continues to be a cause for concern, with acute wasting anticipated to persist until July 2024. The French Embassy, in collaboration with Acted, provided support for one-year project named "Nourishing Communities: Restoring Resilience Through Enhanced Food and Nutrition Security for Vulnerable Rural and Displaced Crisis-Affected Communities in Somaliland." This project was designed to tackle critical issues such as nutrition and health among others. It is being executed by Acted, Candlelight, and BVO across eighteen locations (comprising nine IDP sites and nine villages) within the Burao, Aynabo, and Lasanood districts As part of this initiative, Candlelight implemented the Nutrition and Health component to combat malnutrition among vulnerable populations. This involved screening and treating Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) and Moderately Acute Malnourished (MAM) children under 5 years of age, as well as Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW). Amina’s Success Story Amina Jama Hussein is a 39-year-old woman from Kam-Barwaqo IDP, situated in Buroa town, Togdheer region. Amina is a mother of 12 children, and her family's livelihood relies on twenty shoats. Whenever she needs food or essentials for her family, she sells some of the shoats to sustain them. “Our livelihood depends on our twenty shoats. Whenever we need food or essentials, we sell some of the shoats to sustain our family”. Amina Said Recently, Amina noticed that three of her children were suffering from malnutrition. They had difficulty sleeping at night and appeared generally unwell. Concerned for their well-being, she felt a sense of relief upon hearing from others in her community about Candlelight, an organization launching a nutrition and health project at Kam-Barwaqo IDP. The Candlelight team requested that all unwell children be screened. “I noticed that three of my children were suffering from malnutrition. They struggled to sleep at night and seemed generally unwell”. Amina describes Unfortunately, the screening confirmed that her three children were diagnosed with malnutrition. Despite this challenging news, Amina found hope in the immediate action taken by the Candlelight team. They promptly initiated treatment and provided medical drags and nutrition supplements, including Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for Severe Acute Malnutrition and Ready-to-use Supplementary Food (RUSF) for Moderate Acute Malnutrition within three months. this supplementary are high nutritional value allowing malnourished children to gain weight quickly. Today, one of her children has successfully recovered and is feeling much better; she can sleep well again. While the other two children continue to receive their nutrition supplements. "Now, one of my children has fully recovered and is feeling much better; she can sleep well again. The other two children are still receiving their nutrition supplements. I am grateful to the Candlelight team for their dedication to improving the lives of families like mine," described Amina This experience has highlighted the importance of a community support and timely interventions in overcoming health and nutrition challenges.