A Drop in the Ocean
As a medical student
volunteering with TTL for the month of February, I met one of our recent new
arrivals on my first morning at the safehome.
While playing with the children outside, one of the bo’me approached me
and placed Thuso on my lap while she tended to another child. I was immediately alarmed at how limp he was
as he lay in my arms. His body was thin
and wasted and he had absolutely no muscle tone as he gazed listlessly into
space. Upon asking the bo’me his age, I
was alarmed to learn that this child was already over a year old. His growth was so stunted by malnutrition
that he appeared several months younger and only weighed 5.5 kg (12 pounds). Although my medical training in the U.S. had
never exposed me to anything near this severity of malnutrition, Thuso’s
stick-thin limbs, protruding abdomen, swollen feet and thin, discolored hair
would quickly become familiar signs to me as I encountered more children suffering
from malnutrition as they were brought to the safehome and during outreach
trips.
Thuso’s mother had reportedly
abandoned the family at 3 months of age, and he was being cared for by his
grandmother before the TTL outreach team brought him to the safehome due to
signs of severe malnutrition along with a fever and cough. He spent a week in the hospital receiving
antibiotics for pneumonia along with nutritional supplementation before
returning to the safehome. Thuso’s fever
and cough have since improved and although it may take several months for him
to recover to a healthy weight, he is already looking much better. The boy who was too lethargic to even hold up
his head when I first met him is now sitting up on his own, laughing, and interacting
with the other children.
While working at the
hospital, I have come to realize that many basic medications and diagnostic
tests are simply not available here. It
is incredibly frustrating to know that there are patients dying every day
because of a lack of what are in many parts of the world considered to be
routine treatments. Likewise, seeing
children like Thuso who are dying of malnourishment produces a reaction of
disbelief and outrage to those of us who are not accustomed to witnessing the
effects of such a severe lack of resources.
While it is common knowledge that such problems are present throughout
much of the world, it is difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the crisis
until seeing it firsthand.
The number of children in
Lesotho impacted by malnutrition can initially seem overwhelming, but TTL’s
motto of “one child at a time” reminds us that although we have a long way to
go in combating HIV and malnourishment in the children of Lesotho, every child
that TTL supports is worth the effort.
In the words of Mother Teresa, “We ourselves
feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that
missing drop.” I continue to be
impressed by the bo’me at the safehome who provide such loving care to the
children of the safehome, and I know that they will continue to focus the same
amount of effort and attention on each new child that arrives. As TTL
continues to expand, more and more children like Thuso who might not survive
without assistance will be given the chance to flourish through the efforts of
our outreach and safehome workers.
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Teresa Backes is a 4th year medical student at the University of Missouri. She spent the month of February volunteering at TTL and the Mokhotlong hospital. TTL appreciates all her suggestions and love shown towards the children.
