Kwashiokor- killer of children

OK, it's not really kwash that kills the children- kwash is the result of all that is wrong with Haiti... the unimaginable poverty, lack of food or medical care, lack of jobs, education and training, widespread ignorance, superstition and evil, rampant illness, unsanitary living conditions and unsafe water... that's what kills the children.

When a nursing mother doesn't get enough food and water and is starving herself, her milk supply dwindles and she cannot produce enough milk to feed her baby.

Baby Formula costs even more in Haiti than it does in the US. The average worker earns $1/day. There is no way this mother can buy formula for her baby, so she feeds him "milky water". I don't know why- rumor or tradition?- but the substitute for formula is water mixed with flour. Not a lot of nutrition there.

Soon the baby's health begins to deteriorate. His hair turns red or blonde as it loses pigment. He loses weight, develops a constant cough and diarrhea. Eventually, he refuses food, and although his face & chest are very thin his extremities begin to swell. His little feet & hands look like stuffed sausages as his little body is now too weak to work and the fluid backs up.

This is Kwash.

It is awful and many Haitian children succomb to this condition.

This precious baby boy didn't make it.

His mother is pregnant with yet another child.

This is Clifford.

Clifford is 2 1/2 years old. He looks 18 months. His mother brought him to us and asked for help last summer. He had Kwash. It took many months of care to bring him to where he is now. When the fluid 1st drained off and the swelling went away, he looked like a skeleton. He had to be taught how to suck. He couldn't pick up his head or roll over.

Now, he weighs 23 pounds, he eats like a horse, he's walking, and he smiles all of the time!

Thank you, Jesus!