A mother’s second chance
Tags: South Sudan, Mothers, Nutrition, Children

Tough Times

Abuk Kiir, a South Sudanese mother from Aweil, remembers when she and her children had to survive off a simple diet of sorghum and flour with broth. That was all the widow could afford from the meager salary she made by selling groundnut paste at the market.

“I did not have money to buy her better food,” said Abuk Kiir pointing at her daughter, an emaciated-two-year-old with a bloated stomach and very dry, scaly skin.“She was very sick and couldn’t hold down any food in her stomach. Constantly vomiting whatever she ate along with mucus and saliva, she barely had any energy.”

As the sole breadwinner of her family, Abuk has constantly struggled to feed her four children because food is very hard to come by. The resourceful mother tried to supplement her children’s diet by cultivating a small garden, only to have it washed away by the floods that swept across the country.

Prompted by her brother, Abuk took her sickly daughter to the nearest health care center in Aweil Town. A journey that took half a day on foot.

A Lifeline of Nutritional

Once screened, the mother was referred to a Nutrition Center where she received Plumpy’Sup, a Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF). It consists of a high-energy peanut/chickpea-based paste enriched with micro-nutrients. Support also included the provision of routine medications and de-worming tablets.

She was also counselled on complementary feeding practices, proper hygiene and the correct use and storage of Plumpy’Sup. It’s all part of the package of assistance that The World Food Programme in South Sudan provides to thousands of children.

How it works

A child gets weighed by a health worker. Photo: WFP/Gabriela Vivacqua

WFP’s partner implements the Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP) to treat children who are screened through a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) screening process carried out within local communities are then referred to the nearest nutrition center.

Moderately malnourished children under five and pregnant and lactating women are enrolled in the TSFP programme and receive Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF) which is distributed either once a month or every two weeks. Counselling and behavioral change communication messages are also administered. To reap maximum results, regular follow-ups are common and those receiving assistance are only discharged upon recovery. The average length of stay in the TSFP programme is three months.

WFP Response

A child eating. Photo:WFP/Gabriela Vivacqua

With support from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and the European Union, WFP partners with non-governmental organisations, the Ministry of Health and other UN agencies to reach the most vulnerable through interventions that aim to prevent and treat under nutrition.

Apart from providing specialized nutritious foods, WFP engages in raising nutritional awareness among South Sudanese mothers and families through providing key messages to strengthen nutrition information management systems for a more sustainable impact.

A hopeful future

More than anything, Aduk wishes for health services in her community. So much so, she hopes her daughter will one day be a doctor.

“I want my little girl to go to school and become a medical doctor. Our children are suffering in the villages without good doctors and I want my daughter to save the lives of our people,” she explained. For now, she is relieved that her daughter is in good health. “I made the right decision by coming to the nutrition center. Thank you WFP for your support.”