Tsala
It’s the middle of the day. The visitors at the gate arrive without warning, piling onto the porch in a wet, tired heap. A mother, nursing infant, toddler, 8 yr old and grandma. We recognize (barely) the toddler and realize with dismay that is Tsala (pronounced Sara). Tsala was discharged 3 months ago, a happy, healthy 14 month old.
Today Tsala is crying, miserable, wet and cold. Her hands and feet are swollen, as is her belly. The rest of her looks puffy. She is suffering from kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency. She has been fed nothing but a small amount of nsima , a maize flour mixture, for several months. Nsima contains no protein, no fat, nothing that will nourish a growing child. Starving is a long, slow, miserable process that causes a child to suffer horribly. Tsala is starving
Her family has walked a great distance in the rain to get here. Tsala’s father has remarried (her mother is dead) and his new wife has a new baby and several children of her own. These children got fed, but Tsala received little. Seeing her desperate condition , her aunt took her in. But Tsala’s aunt has problems of her own and can no longer afford to feed Tsala herself. She receives no money from Tsala’s dad. As a last resort she brought Tsala to our nursery, hoping for some help.
We bathed and fed Tsala and gave her clean , dry clothes. The family was given food while we deliberated. What to do? We were full and could not take Tsala back. And all our admissions have to come through social welfare. We can’t provide Tsala’s aunt with food for the foreseeable future. Whole villages would be at our doorstep.
We decided to take Tsala and her grandma to Central Hospital, which has a feeding program. They will keep them there until Tsala is better. They have a nutritionist who develops a feeding program for each child admitted. It includes high quality porridge and lots of milk. Tsala was admitted the same afternoon.
But then what? Tsala’s father is refusing to provide money to feed her. He refused to see us when we went to his home to talk to him. He didn’t even visit Tsala in the hospital or provide food for his own mother who was staying with his child while she was there. This is a difficult situation that for us is hard to even comprehend.
Tsala is recovering now but we don’t know what is going to happen to her. The story is so common here – no food, no money, no one acting responsibly toward their own children. It’s heartbreaking. We hope Tsala will be better cared for in the future. But we just don’t know.
Today Tsala is crying, miserable, wet and cold. Her hands and feet are swollen, as is her belly. The rest of her looks puffy. She is suffering from kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency. She has been fed nothing but a small amount of nsima , a maize flour mixture, for several months. Nsima contains no protein, no fat, nothing that will nourish a growing child. Starving is a long, slow, miserable process that causes a child to suffer horribly. Tsala is starving
Her family has walked a great distance in the rain to get here. Tsala’s father has remarried (her mother is dead) and his new wife has a new baby and several children of her own. These children got fed, but Tsala received little. Seeing her desperate condition , her aunt took her in. But Tsala’s aunt has problems of her own and can no longer afford to feed Tsala herself. She receives no money from Tsala’s dad. As a last resort she brought Tsala to our nursery, hoping for some help.
We bathed and fed Tsala and gave her clean , dry clothes. The family was given food while we deliberated. What to do? We were full and could not take Tsala back. And all our admissions have to come through social welfare. We can’t provide Tsala’s aunt with food for the foreseeable future. Whole villages would be at our doorstep.
We decided to take Tsala and her grandma to Central Hospital, which has a feeding program. They will keep them there until Tsala is better. They have a nutritionist who develops a feeding program for each child admitted. It includes high quality porridge and lots of milk. Tsala was admitted the same afternoon.
But then what? Tsala’s father is refusing to provide money to feed her. He refused to see us when we went to his home to talk to him. He didn’t even visit Tsala in the hospital or provide food for his own mother who was staying with his child while she was there. This is a difficult situation that for us is hard to even comprehend.
Tsala is recovering now but we don’t know what is going to happen to her. The story is so common here – no food, no money, no one acting responsibly toward their own children. It’s heartbreaking. We hope Tsala will be better cared for in the future. But we just don’t know.
posted by Paul and Darlene Heller at 3:20 PM
2 Comments:
Bless your heart!
How little we know about the children of the world.
"Jesus loves the little children ...all the children of the world." We sang it cheerfully during vacation bible school without any awareness...none at all.
JUD
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