Blog
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A 15-Month-Old Girl’s Story
May 5, 2010
It was a long month, but a positive one for a 15-month-old girl in South Sudan.
Her mother had brought her 55 miles from her home village to the Duk Lost Boys Clinic for treatment. She was malnourished, suffered from chronic diarrhea, and had an infection. She was received by Juma Malual, who was born in Duk and is one of the Clinical Officers (akin to a Physician’s Assistant in the U.S.) at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic. Though he is from a different tribe as the girl’s, he speaks several other local languages and conducts consultations in multiple languages on a daily basis. In this case, the girl was given medicine for intestinal worms and parasites, which were robbing the little nutrition she was already getting. She was given an antiobiotic to fight the infection, and given vitamin A supplement, which is a routine preventative measure to protect against night blindness and measles. She was also checked to make sure she had gotten her vaccinations.
One of the first differences one can notice between a healthy child and a malnourished one is that a malnourished child is inactive, tired, and sad. This was the girl’s (whose name is withheld out of respect for confidentiality) state a month ago, so much so that Juma took a picture to document it. But after returning this month for a follow-up, she was a changed girl, fussing and giggling like any healthy toddler would. Though still underweight, she had improved thanks to the medicine she had been given and her mother’s good feeding. Because of the malnutrition, her growth has been stunted and she has not taken her first steps yet. But thanks to the treatment she was able to get, those first steps are sure to come any day now. Maybe next month will be even better.
