Strength in Numbers

Over the past six weeks TTL’s Outreach team has been partnering with thirty-six Village Health Workers (VHWs) to hold site visits in the Libibing area of Mokhotlong district. At site visits, Outreach staff work alongside community-appointed VHWs to assess the health of children from a few specific rural villages. In many cases, these villages never see service providers but rather community members must travel long-distances by foot to reach an under-staffed and under-resourced rural clinic. 

Outreach workers coach VHWs to measure children’s height and middle-upper arm circumference, along with weight, to get a more comprehensive assessment of a child’s nutritional status. Alongside the training session, these site visits present an important opportunity to identify any children who require TTL’s support. Following the site visits VHWs will be able to continue to make referrals to TTL, working as our ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground. 

TTL's Outreach Coordinator teaches Libibing VHWs how to used a MUAC strip at a group training session

The results of these recent site visits have strongly illustrated the challenges Basotho families are currently facing in light of Lesotho’s food crisis. At one single site visit, representing three VHWs' communities, eleven babies were so malnourished that they required TTL’s support.  Luckily, none of these children presented symptoms deemed critical enough to require them to come to the safe-home. Rather, through the Outreach Program’s support, TTL will work to get them back on track while they remain at home with their caregivers.

Yesterday’s site visit was different, one new child has been brought to the safe-home. This baby girl looks only a few months old – smaller than even our small safe-home eight month old babies – but her Bukana says she’s 14 months. There’s not a millimeter of baby fat under all those of layers of clothing, this little one weighs only 5.3­ kg.

Without the Village Health Worker network, TTL may never have learned about this child, or the eleven who have recently joined the Outreach program. Or, we may have heard about them in a few months time when they were much more critical and getting them back on track towards recovery would be an even greater struggle. This is the strength of the Village Health Worker Program. More ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground and earlier identification means more vulnerable babies will receive the assistance they need so they not only survive but can eventually thrive within their own communities.

World Food Day

Yesterday, people around the globe celebrated World Food Day. This day was an opportunity to bring attention to food issues in countries on every continent. Many of you may have received the below email asking for your support as Lesotho faces an increasing food crisis. If you haven't had a chance, please take a moment to learn how you can help.

.....
Dear Supporter –

When I lift 3-year-old Mamello into my arms, I am struck by the hardness of her little body. Her severe malnutrition is readily apparent. And just like every time I see a child come to the safe-home looking like this—feeling like this—my mind swims with unanswered questions.

But no level of intellectual understanding will ever stop the visceral reaction I feel when seeing a child suffering this way. I will never get used to the feeling of a hard bony chest, arms and legs so thin it seems they might snap at any moment, skin drawn tight across cheekbones, not an ounce of baby fat to be found.

Mamello when she arrive at TTL.

In this small mountain kingdom, this image represents the severe state of malnutrition seen in far too many babies and children. Sadly, this number is likely to increase as Lesotho faces mounting food insecurity.

Will you donate today, World Food Day, to help us give little girls like Mamello a fighting chance?

On August 9th, in a call to the world that Lesotho and its people are in crisis, the Prime Minister of Lesotho declared a state of food emergency. After two seasons of failed harvest, due to destructive floods one year and a severe drought the next, it is estimated that the people of Lesotho will have less than 10 percent of the staple crops they will need to sustain them in the coming year.

In his declaration, the Prime Minister stressed that orphans and vulnerable children, as well as people living with HIV/AIDS, would suffer the most from this crisis. As these are the precise populations that TTL works with, we know that the need for our services will only grow greater in the coming months.

Mamello after a few months of intensive recovery.

We are asking for your assistance to make sure we can meet this pressing need. The children of Lesotho face myriad challenges that TTL works tirelessly to mitigate, and in turn we cannot do this work without your tireless support.

Please donate to help us continue addressing the food crisis in Lesotho.

Sincerely, 

Julie Wheaton

TTLF Fellow

International Day of the Girl

“This is a day to celebrate the fact that it is girls who will change the world; that the empowerment of girls holds the key to development and security for families, communities and societies worldwide” 

-Desmond Tutu and Ela Bhatt, members of the Elders

The United Nations has declared today, October 11^th, the first International Day of the Girl Child. 

For those of you who have spent time around TTL, or may have realised from our website and blog, TTL is a very female friendly place. Over eighty percent of our staff are female (including management) and because of the nature of child rearing in Lesotho, so are the vast majority of the caregivers we work with.

And it turns out, TTL isn’t an oddity. Its female staff are just some of the many across Lesotho who have been able to acquire an education and find employment. Across a number of indicators ranging from access to health services to representation in the government, Lesotho demonstrates strong levels of gender equality. In fact, it has been amongst the top ten countries in the world in terms of gender parity for the last three years running. Its global gender gap rating puts it ahead of the US, Canada, the UK and all of its regional African neighbours. For a country that is so often associated with poverty and stalled development, it’s nice to know that Lesotho is a leader for its neighbours in trying to ensure that girls have as many opportunities as boys while growing up.

The International Day of the Girl Child marks an important chance to recognise the progress Lesotho has made, as well as the challenges it still faces. Unfortunately, HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately affect girls and women – reflected in higher infections rates as well as the burden of caring for gravely ill family members or the infant children they leave behind. Sexual violence and coercion, traditional beliefs about masculinity, and unequal gender relations all continue to fuel the HIV epidemic.

The devastating consequences HIV/AIDS has had on household structures and the ongoing pressures of poverty combined  with community expectations for women to fill specific domestic roles means that girls may end up leaving school earlier than they should. I can think of a handful of cases from TTL’s recent history where we have stepped in to help a family care for an infant child to alleviate the burden on a teenage girl left to run a household or try to keep a girl in school for a little bit longer following the death of a main caregiver.

But all in all, while there is still progress to be made (as there is in every country in the world), Lesotho’s not such a bad place to be a girl. Each one of these TTL baby girls below will get to grow up in a country where both boys and girls receive free primary school and women can be caregivers, factory workers, village chiefs, Managing Directors of NGOs, or Ministers in the Government. 

 

The Week in Photos: Spring, Safe-home Arrivals, M&E, and Outreach

A lot happens around TTL in one week. Babies make great strides toward recovery...the Outreach Team brings life-saving care to families in rural villages...and we work to understand how we can continue to meet the needs of the children of Lesotho. I thought I'd share a bit about our week through a few photos.

Reitumetse arrived at the safe-home late last week. Understandably, it takes babies a little time to adjust to the safe-home...being away from home, their mama, and everything they've known is certainly confusing.

Add on top of that feeling pretty sick and tired and Reitumetse's first few days consisted of a lot of watching the other babies crawl around and trying to figure out how exactly this place works.

Spring weather and the chance to enjoy the fresh air makes for some happy babies. 

Although peach blossoms can be pretty memorizing, it turns out the big truck at the construction site across the street is even more so. 

Thankfully, I was able to get Seabonga's big brown eyes to look at me for just a second to get this photo.

Nine month old Tlotlisang arrived last week, as well.

There's something about her that reminds me of a baby bird.

Her little body feels so skinny, bony, and frail, but she's very happy and alert nonetheless.

No matter which direction she's facing, she needs to know what's going on behind her.

Of course, flipping yourself upside down is the easiest way to accomplish that task.

We met this man, the grandfather of one of our former clients, while out in rural village with our monitoring and evaluation team; TTL recently embarked on a massive effort to evaluate the effectiveness of our services and understand client outcomes.

When we approached, this man was perched outside his rondaval slowly weaving blades of grass and thatch into a long, thin rope. 

He continued to expertly weave his rope as he told of his experiences working with TTL and how thankful he is that his grandchild is now healthy.

I love this photo because it illustrates how traveling the rough roads of Lesotho often feels...like teetering on the edge of the world...with the sky so close you feel as if you could touch it.

Yes, that's the same little Reitumetse from above. 

Just a few days of good meals and a little bit of time to adjust and we were graced with that beautiful smile.

And of course, nothing brings out those smiles faster than 'dijo' - food - at snack time.

A good tickle brings out the smiles pretty quickly too.

Renang, who has been in the safe-home for about a month, improves each day.

His laugh is something I look forward to hearing each day.

The week concluded with an outreach trip to one of the most remote areas in which we work.

Because these villages are so isolated and hard to reach we seem to have a lot of clients in this area; families often don't seem to have access to the resources and services they need.

Mark, a medical student volunteer, provided some helpful insight into the fact that this little guy's condition - his malnutrition is so severe that his body cannot fight off the persistent cough that has been racking his body for the past few months. We brought him into the safe-home to aid in his recovery.

New Babies, Missing Parents, and Food Insecurity in Lesotho

Abandoned, exposed, malnourished – these are the words our outreach worker Mantja uses to describe the child she has just brought to the safe-home. Her words are succinct partially because of a language barrier but also because sometimes there’s nothing else to say.

It’s 6:30pm and we’re driving through the already dark streets of town so I can drop Mantja off at home after her eleven hour work day. She tells me the mother just left her village while her eight month old daughter, Tlotlisang, was at a neighbours playing with some friends. 

It’s hard to imagine and yet it’s a story that I’ve heard many times since I arrived in Lesotho a little over a year ago.  Mothers and fathers seemingly abandon their children in search of something better outside of the hard life in the villages – most often in hopes of finding some kind of income in South Africa.

This little girl joins another boy who arrived in the safe-home this afternoon.  Probably around 20 months (he has no health records), his mother has also left him to go to South Africa. His swollen legs and feet are signs of his severe malnourishment and protein deficiency. Tomorrow he will go to the hospital to be examined and tested for HIV exposure. But for tonight he’s eaten his whole dinner and is quick to crack a smile - the best signs we can hope for in a child’s first night in the safe-home.

This afternoon I also heard about a call Outreach received about a mother and baby who require TTL’s help. The mother and child are both critically ill and need to come to the hospital. M’e Nthabeleng sarcastically jokes that their treating TTL like an ambulance service. They should really be calling the hospital but everyone knows TTL can get there much faster and so tomorrow the Outreach team will go.  

Today was a day of celebration in the safe-home, three babies were being reunited with their families. And somehow just as quickly three new babies have come to replace them.

A month ago as we planned out the reunification schedule for the safe-home it seemed like we were soon going to be left with only a few little ones. I thought back to when I arrived last August and, after a busy July, there were only four babies in the playroom. I thought maybe this was a cycle the safe-home went through. But this year, I guess that won’t be the case.

Lesotho recently declared a national food security emergency. Another recent statistic identifies Lesotho as one of only four countries in the world where nearly 100 percent of the population is projected to remain food insecure for the next ten years. As always, it will be the most vulnerable – those living with HIV, orphans, and children under-five – who will suffer the most.

It’s a constant struggle to eke out any kind of livelihood in Lesotho – particularly in the highland districts. It makes me grateful that TTL’s Outreach workers – and all its staff – are willing to put in the extra hours to ensure each child receives the support it needs and help families through what can at times feel like an endless period of struggle against food insecurity and HIV/AIDS in this beautiful mountain kingdom. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I originally wrote this post last Monday but after a busier than normal week am just finding the time to post it now. The third child who needed to come to the hospital with her mother is now in the safe-home. While she has not started to show signs of improvement as quickly as Tlotlisang and Seabonga, we are all hoping that this week will be better than the last.  

Seabonga - one of the safe-home's newest arrivals. Despite his poor health, he is always quick to crack a smile and laugh. His grin reminds me of Tsepang (below) a little boy who spent some time in the safe-home a few months back to recover from TB and malnutrition. Here's hoping Seabonga's recovery will be just as quick.