Malnourished

This little one is 9 months old, believe it or not. He is a very small nine month old. His arms and legs are very thin, and he doesn’t even cry when he is hungry, because he is used to being hungry. His mother left him with a go-go and an older sister. The mother shows up now and then. The baby is not getting milk. The only thing that the baby is fed is soft porridge. When they brought the baby to me that day, it was 3pm. He hadn’t eaten since 10am. He was not crying or fussing.

I was teaching the health care workers an update on how to do a physical exam and they brought this baby to me to do an exam on. He was full of scabies, and so dirty that I could hardly stand the smell. He needed a clean diaper desperately, but there was not one around. One of the ladies that cooks at the CarePoint is trying to help take care of this baby. When I heard that he was not getting milk, it broke my heart.

This baby is very malnourished. I gave the lady that was helping take care of him some medicine for the scabies, and told her that I would bring some milk. The next day, when I brought the formula and mixed it for him, there was no bottle, so I put it in a cup. The baby gulped the milk from the cup like there was no tomorrow. I wanted to cry, I knew that this little one had not had milk in a long time. I tried to take the cup away, and he reached for it. Milk was going everywhere, but he didn’t care, he wanted that milk. It was gone in no time. I told the ladies at the CarePoint to feed him 5 or 6 times a day while he was there, and send some formula home. Later that week, I came and the baby wasn’t at the CarePoint. They said that the mother showed up and the baby was at home with her. I sent formula home and showed them how to mix it. I pray that we can keep this one healthy and help the family take care of him. I know that the Lord loves this little one more than I can imagine. Please pray for me that I will have the wisdom that I need to know how to handle this situation, and many more like it.