Source: Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), Date: 02 Feb 2011
We are supporting health clinics in Ethiopia that provide feeding programmes for the most vulnerable – including children, pregnant women and people living with HIV.
Help us change lives around the world>>
Nitsihiti Girmay, 45, lives in a small village in northern Ethiopia. Since her husband died seven years ago, she has supported her family by running a business buying and selling salt, sugar, and oil. The income has enabled Nitsihiti to send her two daughters to school, as well as providing them with food, clothing and the rest of life's essentials.
Nitsihiti has known for the last year and a half that she is HIV positive.
For a while after receiving her diagnosis, Nitsihiti could carry on as normal, thanks to the anti-retroviral drugs from the CAFOD-supported Kidist Mariam Catholic Clinic. She has also attended counselling sessions at the clinic to help her come to terms with her condition.
"But then," she says, "My situation started to deteriorate as I could not find enough food at home, nor work as head of the household."
The impact of drought
The whole region of east Africa was suffering from drought, and the dry, rocky area of Tigray was not a place where farming was easy even before the food shortages hit.
Nitsihiti's neighbours knew that she had no relatives nearby and so they visited to check on her and bring her food.
Despite their kind attentions, and the help she was getting from her children, Nitsihiti grew steadily weaker and soon was barely able to move, having lost over a third of her body weight. One of her friends heard about a feeding programme that staff at the clinic were running to help vulnerable people during the drought.
''I was in a very critical situation," says Nitsihiti. "I lost as much as 15kg of my body weight and could not even move out of home. It was then I learned from a friend about the feeding programme."
A bumpy journey
With Nitsihiti unable to move, her friends got her to the clinic in the only way they could find – via wheelbarrow. Luckily the clinic is near to Nitsihiti's home, so she did not have to endure the bumpy journey for long.
The clinic staff acted quickly to get her enrolled in the feeding programme, which provides her with a free supply of food for as long as she needs it and home visits from staff to check on her progress. They also told her neighbours that in the future they could send one of the children to collect the food instead of pushing Nitsihiti all the way.
The food - or 'premix' - supplied to Nitsihiti and other patients is a mix of maize, soya and sugar with added vitamins and minerals. The high protein and energy content mean that it is a very successful treatment for people suffering from malnutrition.
''I have been able to get a continued supply of 6kg of premix every other week for about seven months and I have been visited by Clinic Staff Nurses in my home,'' said Nitsihiti.
''Now I am very thankful that I am very healthy and that I have gained more weight than I lost."
Vital for good health
Caroline Ngeri Muthiga from our East Africa office says that the feeding programmes are vital for HIV sufferers:
"People living with HIV have additional energy needs. Those taking anti retroviral drugs also need food to help them absorb the many drugs that they take.
"This means that when food is scarce, they may need additional support in order to prevent their health condition deteriorating.
"The health clinics we fund across the region have responded to the drought, ensuring that many people like Nitsihiti receive the supplementary food that is so vital to their health."
We are supporting health clinics in Ethiopia that provide feeding programmes for the most vulnerable – including children, pregnant women and people living with HIV.
Help us change lives around the world>>
Nitsihiti Girmay, 45, lives in a small village in northern Ethiopia. Since her husband died seven years ago, she has supported her family by running a business buying and selling salt, sugar, and oil. The income has enabled Nitsihiti to send her two daughters to school, as well as providing them with food, clothing and the rest of life's essentials.
Nitsihiti has known for the last year and a half that she is HIV positive.
For a while after receiving her diagnosis, Nitsihiti could carry on as normal, thanks to the anti-retroviral drugs from the CAFOD-supported Kidist Mariam Catholic Clinic. She has also attended counselling sessions at the clinic to help her come to terms with her condition.
"But then," she says, "My situation started to deteriorate as I could not find enough food at home, nor work as head of the household."
The impact of drought
The whole region of east Africa was suffering from drought, and the dry, rocky area of Tigray was not a place where farming was easy even before the food shortages hit.
Nitsihiti's neighbours knew that she had no relatives nearby and so they visited to check on her and bring her food.
Despite their kind attentions, and the help she was getting from her children, Nitsihiti grew steadily weaker and soon was barely able to move, having lost over a third of her body weight. One of her friends heard about a feeding programme that staff at the clinic were running to help vulnerable people during the drought.
''I was in a very critical situation," says Nitsihiti. "I lost as much as 15kg of my body weight and could not even move out of home. It was then I learned from a friend about the feeding programme."
A bumpy journey
With Nitsihiti unable to move, her friends got her to the clinic in the only way they could find – via wheelbarrow. Luckily the clinic is near to Nitsihiti's home, so she did not have to endure the bumpy journey for long.
The clinic staff acted quickly to get her enrolled in the feeding programme, which provides her with a free supply of food for as long as she needs it and home visits from staff to check on her progress. They also told her neighbours that in the future they could send one of the children to collect the food instead of pushing Nitsihiti all the way.
The food - or 'premix' - supplied to Nitsihiti and other patients is a mix of maize, soya and sugar with added vitamins and minerals. The high protein and energy content mean that it is a very successful treatment for people suffering from malnutrition.
''I have been able to get a continued supply of 6kg of premix every other week for about seven months and I have been visited by Clinic Staff Nurses in my home,'' said Nitsihiti.
''Now I am very thankful that I am very healthy and that I have gained more weight than I lost."
Vital for good health
Caroline Ngeri Muthiga from our East Africa office says that the feeding programmes are vital for HIV sufferers:
"People living with HIV have additional energy needs. Those taking anti retroviral drugs also need food to help them absorb the many drugs that they take.
"This means that when food is scarce, they may need additional support in order to prevent their health condition deteriorating.
"The health clinics we fund across the region have responded to the drought, ensuring that many people like Nitsihiti receive the supplementary food that is so vital to their health."
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