Medair's Emergency Response Team fights child malnutrition in the face of a growing food crisis in Akobo,Southern Sudan.

When six-month-old Ban was seen by Medair's Emergency Response Team, he was suffering from chronic diarrhoea, an eye infection, and severe malnutrition. In response to a serious food shortage in Akobo, six of Medair's Sudanese outreach workers were seeking out cases of malnutrition in young children. After measuring the size of Ban's upper arm and thereby determining that he suffered from malnutrition, they referred him and his mother to a nutrition programme run by Medair at the Akobo County Hospital.

Hunger in Akobo Hunger has become a major problem in Akobo, a town in the Jonglei State of Southern Sudan, near the Ethiopian border. This year, the area has had much less rain than normal, leading to crop failures in usual staples such as sorghum, maize, beans, okra, and pumpkins. For months, tribal conflicts have blocked the normal river-supply route to the town, most notably a large shipment of supplies from the U.N. World Food Programme which was attacked in June.

The food shortage in Akobo has been made even more acute by a recent influx of displaced people, including 19,000 people fleeing attacks by cattle rustlers in nearby villages. More than 17 villages were destroyed in the attacks, which left houses and food stores burnt to the ground. The lives of the displaced people living outside Akobo are at significant risk, as shown by a recent attack on a group searching for food, which left 185 dead. These people have fled to Akobo with nothing, putting an enormous strain on the local capacity. While the food shortage is being felt by all, it puts the most vulnerable, particularly children under five years old, at the greatest risk.

"Families are having to ration what food they have," said Aliga Moses, Medair's ERT Logistician. "Some are even dividing the supplementary rations they receive for their malnourished children among the entire family due to the acute shortages they are facing."

Medair's Stabilisation Centre Medair is currently the only international NGO in Akobo focusing solely on the nutrition crisis. Since 1 July, Medair has operated a nutrition programme for malnourished and severely malnourished children out of a hospital in Akobo that is managed by International Medical Corps (IMC).

Children are identified by outreach teams and admitted to Medair's Stabilisation Centre, run by Health Manager Eunice Kavoi. At the centre, the children are fed dietary supplements of highly nutritious fortified milk and plumpy nut, a thick peanut-based paste to help them gain weight. Children with less severe malnutrition are issued supplements (via their mothers) on an outpatient basis, returning weekly for monitoring.

On 8 July, young Ban was admitted for treatment in the care of one of our local staff, known affectionately by everyone as "Mama Eunice." After only seven days on a strict feeding regimen, Ban's health improved dramatically and he was able to go home, to return as a weekly outpatient.

A couple of days after Ban's discharge, his mother spoke about how well Ban was doing. She told Mama Eunice that the clean environment of the ward made a big difference to Ban's health and that she now realises that dirty hands can cause diarrhoea and can make children seriously ill.

"Mama Eunice is doing a fantastic job in the ward," said Ban's mother. "She was tough on me, but she was just trying to help Ban get well."

Conveying the importance of proper health and hygiene is a critical part of Medair's work in restoring and maintaining the health of the children of Akobo. Health and hygiene education are offered to everyone passing through the centre.

Success Stories Ban is now on his way to a full recovery. His eye has completely healed, his diarrhoea has stopped, he has gained weight, and he is able to laugh again.

Another inpatient, Nyachan, has also improved greatly. Her mother says that for the first time, Nyachan is well enough to enjoy life, and has been seen playing, and pretending to cook. Nyachan likes the plumpy nut and says she wants to "eat it all day."

Nyachan's mother spoke on behalf of all the mothers, saying that they appreciate the work that is being done in Akobo. "The children are now opening their eyes," she said. "There has not been such a good life in Akobo before now."

The Crisis Continues Still, with the ongoing crisis continuing to unfold, both the international community and Medair have much work to do to avert a humanitarian disaster.

"The community being served by the Medair team have expressed their thanks," said Aliga, "but they are still in need of more support. The same children sometimes return to Medair having been treated once already, and this shows that the problem is likely to increase if a solution to the food crisis is not reached soon."

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Medair is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), with its operational headquarters located in Switzerland. Its Relief & Rehabilitation programmes in Southern Sudan have been running since 1992.

In Southern Sudan, Medair provides emergency medical and water assistance for outbreaks, large people movements, and nutritional emergencies in a number of locations across the region as well as improving access to primary health care and safe water sources in Upper Nile.

In the northern states, Medair provides access to primary health care and water and sanitation for up to 210,000 conflict-affected persons in West-Darfur; and provides access to safe water and sanitation, supports reproductive health and promotes public health for up to 100,000 people in South Kordofan.

Medair's work in Southern Sudan is currently supported with the assistance of UNICEF, BSF (DFID - British Government and Worldbank),, SDC/DDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), The Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and CHF (the United Nation 'Common Humanitarian Fund for Sudan) and private donors.