Doctors Without Borders

Somalia: “Today the Child is Completely Different Than [the] Day He Was Admitted”

Four-year-old Khalif has been under treatment in MSF’s inpatient therapeutic feeding center in the southern Somali town of Kismayo for just over two weeks when his mother, Abshiro Gedi, tells his remarkable story.

The family lives in Mayondo village, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) north of Kismayo, in an area that has been heavily affected by the ongoing crisis in Somalia. Two of Khalif’s brothers recently died from complications related to measles, and Khalif and his sister were also suffering from the disease. When one of Abshiro’s brothers, who lives in Kismayo, heard the bad news about his nephews’ deaths and illness, he hurried to Mayando to bring the two remaining sick kids to MSF’s therapeutic feeding center for malnourished children in Kismayo.

Once there, Khalif was admitted as he had signs of severe malnutrition. “Today the child is completely different than [the] day he was admitted,” explained Abdirasak Sheikh Abdiwahab, MSF project coordinator assistant in Kismayo’s center for malnourished children. “Cases like this who improve quickly are many, not only Khalif, but this is a [good example of the conditions people face here].”

To read the rest of the story and to learn more about MSF’s work in Somalia click here.

Photo: Somalia 2011 © Sven Torfinn