Safeer … suffering from the first day of his birth

NFDHR: ADEL ALBAWH - Monday, 25 March, 2019

 Safeer, a Yemeni child who was only two months old, lives with his family in a hut with in a marginalized camp in al-Sawadiyah district Al-Bayda governorate.
From the first day of his birth, Safeer mother noticed his weak physical structure , and the inadequacy of the mother's milk forced his family to rely on artificial milk to feed him, but his condition remained as it was, and even worse.
When the health workers of Al-Sawadiyah Health Center visited the marginalized camp on January 24, 2019 to carry out the outreach activities- NFDHR supports Al Sawadiyah Health Center and 39 other health facilities in Al-Bayda Governorate as part of the Sustainability of Health and Nutrition Services project, funded by (UNCIFE)- Safeer was at the age of less than one month, the team noticed that , Safeer had signs of severe malnutrition, so they advised his father to transfer him to the nearest therapeutic feeding center . But his father did not listen to the health worker's advice.
On the second visit to the camp on March 18, 2019, the team asked Safeer’s father whether he transferred his son to the Malnutrition Treatment Center or not? But they were surprised that, he didn’t. And Safeer health condition had deteriorated considerably.
 
The symptoms of severe malnutrition were very clear. Dryness was obvious all over his exhausted body. He was also suffering from diarrhea, fever and flatulence. His body was like a skin on a bone.
 
 
During the first two months of his life, Safeer suffered a lot, he was close to death, and his survival depended mainly on the speed of his father's response and his transfer to therapeutic feeding center in Dhamar or Al-Bayda Governorates.
 
The extreme poverty of  Safeer's father prevented the transfer of Safeer to the nearby therapeutic feeding center, but the health workers insisted on transferring the child .
 
Safeer's father realized the seriousness of his child's condition and determined to transfer him to the therapeutic treatment center, But he did not have the expenses of his transfer. His work in selling plastic cans was insufficient to provide the basic needs of his family.
The man tried to borrow money to transfer his child to the treatment center in Al-Bayda, which is about 50 kilometers away, but no one agree to borrow him, he shed tears after he was exhausted and felt that his child's life was in danger, but he was happy after receiving a small sum of money collected from several people .He prepared himself to transfer his child to the therapeutic center.
 
The health workers left the camp and their hearts were dripping with blood, they were thinking  whether he would live and be healthy, or whether he would be another victim of the dozens of Yemeni children dying daily from complications of malnutrition.