August 10, 2004

Dear Friends,

It is the end of July and we are well into our long dry season. We have had only one light rain in three months. The season reminds us somewhat of fall in the States, as the trees have lost a lot of their leaves, there is a bit of wind, especially in the morning, and the morning temperatures are cooler. It’s pretty nice, except that soon we will see the signs of malnutrition increasing in the children. They will become skinnier. Their hair will start to lose its curl and some color as well. Areas of skin will start to peel, their little bellies will start to bloat, and their hands and feet will show some swelling. Many will die and many will be brought by their confused mothers to our nutrition center. Confused, we say, because they say that the problem is that the child won’t eat. And that’s true. The child will have passed to a time where he or she can’t eat.

The lucky children (if you can call someone starving to death lucky) who make it here to the IMCK will receive medical evaluations and treatment for the diseases that “tip them over the edge”—malaria, diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal worms, measles, pneumonia, anemia. Most will survive being first treated in the hospital for these diseases and then spending several weeks at the nutrition rehabilitation center to begin to gain weight and to thrive again. They will enter as the saddest children you can imagine and leave bright, happy, playful, able to engage life again.

Those of you who saw our presentations this past year might remember Tubadiayi. She arrived last year as a living skeleton, the picture of misery. She stayed at the nutrition center for three months. This year, when we returned again to Tshikaji in February, we were delighted when her mother brought her to see us, and we present Tubadiayi to you once again.

While at the nutrition center, her mother learned principles of good nutrition based upon local food products and about hygiene, including handwashing, which will help keep her child well. Mom listened and learned and is doing a great job with her child of whom she is so proud.

Do you think that Jesus would approach a starving person with questions about how he got himself into that situation or would he offer this brother, who is hungry, something to eat? We aren’t arguing that this is the answer. But, it is the answer for this starving child now. Long-term planning and prevention will not ease this child’s suffering today. We are called to do both—ease the suffering of our brothers and sisters at the same time we work with them to prevent the recurrence of these problems.

One solution is to prevent the development of severe malnutrition in small children by eating inexpensive and locally available plant products. The moringa tree “Feed My Children” malnutrition project encourages the use of moringa leaf powder as a nutritional supplement. (It’s rich in protein, iron, calcium, and many other essential elements.) We wish to thank all of you so much for helping these starving and suffering children with your generous support. You are making a difference.

Mike and Nancy Haninger