Mahad’s Journey to Recovery

May 2017 was not a good month for Ader Hassen Debey, a 49-year-old resident of Dariko Kebele in Kelafo Woreda of Somali’s Shebelle zone. Her child fell seriously ill, leaving her baby boy, Mahad Abdi Mohammed, two, to the entire care of her mother. Worse, Mahad followed suit and became awfully sick himself. When Ader took her grandchild to Kalaman Health Post in Kelafo, he was very weak from diarrhea and frequent vomiting.

Mahad was immediately admitted into the Save the Children supported Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) site to treat his malnourished status. He was then referred to the Save the Children established Stabilization Center (SC) at Kelafo Health Center where he was treated for severely acute malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications. He weighed seven kilograms, way thinner for his age. He was also put in Save the Children’s Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP) and received nutrition support until he recovered from his malnourishment.

When we met Mahad at Kelafo Health Center six months after in November, Mahad weighed 10 kilograms, fully recovering from his condition. Ader said she is now very happy that her grand child is healthy and happy. Ader remembers how Mahad’s situation was critical and that she felt hopeless. “I never thought my grandchild would survive his severe sickness. He was very weak when I brought him to the health facility in Kelafo. He was throwing up every now and then. He had diarrhea and looked so skinny. The nurses worked real hard to save him. They gave him medicine and food. We stayed seven days in the recovery center. When he got better, they again admitted him in Kalaman health facility, were he received more nutrition and treatment. They also put him on a feeding program [TSFP], and he fully recovered after four months of care by the amazing nurses.”

Hamad now lives with his grandmother while his mother is expecting her second baby. Within her own means, Ader said she is providing Mahad with nutritious food such as eggs, vegetables, meat and honey. As she brought her grandson to Kelafo Health Center for a check-up, Ader said “Hamad has now picked up weight and he is healthy and happy. His mother allowed for him to live with me. He is much closer to me than her.”

Funded by ECHO through OXFAM, the project targets 109,304 people in Kelafo, Mustahil and Ferfer Woredas in Somali’s Shebelle zone and aims to contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality due to acute malnutrition, water borne diseases and outbreaks. To that end, the project has set aside a total budget of 1,142,096 euros for its WASH, Health and Nutrition, and Food Security and Livelihood interventions.