Calvin is a 3-year-old boy abandoned by his mother at a tender age of 1 year and 6 months. He is a beneficiary of the Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP) implemented by Alliance Forum for Development-Uganda. He is suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Catherine the step-mother to Calvin is now taking care of him together with his father Jeremiah from Monodu village in Kuluba Sub-County Koboko district. The boy is suffering from severe wasting, and has brown hair as well as brown eyes with no oedema (a condition characterized by body swellings).
Calvin was born pre-maturely at 6 months, not the normal expected months of delivery at 9 months, which offers limited survival chance especially for a boy child whose body parts are not properly developed, a delicate stage that most infants rarely survive. The child was incubated until when his condition improved. Calvin’s mother was not staying with her husband as she was in the republic of Congo while the father was in Koboko district in the West-Nile region, Uganda. After the child had reached 1 year and 6 months, the mother abandoned him with the grandmother. When the grandmother saw that the condition of her grandson was deteriorating, she took Calvin to the father in Koboko-Uganda. The step-mother was unhappy about Calvin’s coming as she thought that he had been brought to die since his condition was appalling. Community members were discouraging her from taking care of Calvin; saying that the child had only been brought to die there and be buried in the father’s land as no one saw signs of him surviving.
When AFOD staff members went for a health outreach in Monodu village, Calvin was brought to the attention of the staff. Immediately; his middle upper arm circumference (MUAC screening test) was taken and referred to Kuluba HC II to be enrolled for TSFP, a combination of CSB++ on the 17th August, 2017 with a body weight of 6.1kgs and MUAC of 11.6cm respectively. After two weeks, AFOD’s monitoring team of nutrition assistants conducted a follow up visit, where another test was conducted where Calvin had gained 0.3kgs and 0.6cm by 31st August, 2017.
Catherine became happy and appreciated the good work that AFOD was doing. The AFOD team advised her on milling maize and giving the other siblings grain porridge and supplementing with beans and fish.
After the two weeks, an improvement in diarrhoea was observed and a change in the hair color from brown to black. Catherine and Jeremiah were truly grateful and appreciated the project and wanted it to go for many more years.
Caption:
Photo taken before enrolment
Catherine was quoted saying: “if AFOD had not come to Koboko, I do not know whether Calvin would be alive by now”
