Monday, August 8, 2011

Symbol of hope in Somalia as aid saves seven-month old from death

ONLINE METRO

Shocking images of Minhaj Gedi Farah’s twig-like arms and hollow cheeks made him the frail face of the worst famine in 60 years but after just ten days of aid, the seven-month-old has put on weight and looks around his hospital ward with happy curiosity.

Minhaj Gedi Farah  
Now: Though still small, Minhaj has put on weight and is eating well (Picture: AP)

Only ten days ago, he was too weak to cry and his skin crumpled liked thin leather under the pressure of his mother’s hands.

Now doctors at the International Rescue Committee hospital in the eastern Kenyan village of Hagadera say he is not in danger of joining the 29,000 children who have died in southern Somalia in the last 90 days.
Minhaj Gedi Farah  
Then: On arrival, the starving child was close to death (Picture: AP)
‘He has no problem compared to the past days,’ said his mother Asiah Dagane. ‘Now he sleeps the bulk of the night. When he wakes up, he is hungry and wants milk.’

Doctors hope he will soon leave the ward, returning only for regular monitoring and checkups.

It is a rare success story amid unimaginable misery for parents at Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp.

New arrivals have described losing as many as four children to starvation and disease on the journey from Somalia.

As Minhaj’s mother celebrated his recovery, three of Mayow Aden Ali’s six children have died at Dadaab.

On Friday, he buried his six-month-old daughter and her five-year-old sister. On Saturday, he buried his two-year-old-son.

‘They were taken to hospital, but doctors could not save them,’ he said. He is  thinking of returning to Somalia, where his three surviving children remain.

The UN says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, suggesting the death toll will rise.

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