A
television documentary broadcast last month has inspired staff
at the Qatar Red Crescent to send a team to help alleviate the
food crisis in Niger.
“We don’t have any stronger links with Niger than
with any other country,” explains Izeldin Elshiekh, the
Qatar Red Crescent’s Coordinator of International Relief
Projects. “But the report about Niger shown on Aljazeera
Television was very strong and striking.”
At the same time, the Qatar Red Crescent was also receiving
reports from the humanitarian agency, Agence Musulman d’Afrique
(AMA). This organization has been working in Africa since 1989
promoting basic health care education particularly to women
and children.
Two Qatar Red Crescent delegates went to Niger to assess the
situation and identify the needs. They arrived in Zinder, a
city 890 kilometres east of Niger’s capital, Niamey.
“There were no other international organizations in Zinder,”
says Elshiekh. “We were the first here.”
The Qatar Red Crescent has now set up two supplementary feeding
centres for moderately and severely malnourished children. One
is in Zinder, while the other is in Tanout in the north of the
province.
At the Zinder centre, a team of two doctors, three nurses and
10 trained volunteers from the Niger Red Cross have already
treated 604 severely and 1,455 moderately malnourished children.
Some 130 tonnes of cereal have also been distributed to the
children’s families. Another two Qatari doctors will arrive
shortly to support the team.
“We started off having to send the worst cases to the
local hospitals and pay the fees ourselves,” explains
Elshiekh. “Now Médecins Sans Frontières
have established a specialised centre in Zinder and we can transfer
them there.”
Among these transferred to the centre is a set of triplets.
Hassan, Hassana and Ousseini are seven months old and their
mother, Zouè, cannot breastfeed them. Ousseini is severely
malnourished.
“They feed the children five times a day and a doctor
comes to see them regularly,” says Zouè.
The mothers stay with their children and are also fed at the
centre. Zouè’s six other children are at home with
their father.
There are at least four sets of twins at the centre.
“When we see twins, we admit them immediately,”
explains Elshiekh. “At least one of them is always suffering
from some form of malnutrition. In a situation where women are
finding it hard to feed their children, imagine having two at
the same time.”
In addition to providing supplementary food for children and
their families, the Qatar Red Crescent provides basic health
care. “Many of the malnourished children also suffer from
some type of illness,” explains Elsheikh. “We give
them a check up and provide medicines when necessary. They then
stay until they are better”.
International cooperation
The Qatar Red Crescent, together with the Niger Red Cross, are
working closely with AMA. “We got in contact with them
because we didn’t know the country,” says Elshiekh.
“We needed some logistical and technical support, apart
from the obvious language barriers.”
AMA has provided beds while the Federation has sent tents to
make the premises more comfortable and protect both patients
and staff from the harsh Sahel sun.
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Zouè
with her three triplets, one of them, Ousseini, is severe
malnourished. (p13285)
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Niger
RC volunteers have been trained in identifing and treat
cases of malnutrition in children under five years old.
(p13284)
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Zouè
with Hassana and Hassan, two of the triplets. (p13282)
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Two
tents have been provided by the International Federation
to provide shade and more confort to the children and
their families. (p13281)
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So
far, supplementary food has been provided to 151 severe
malnourished and 300 moderate malnourished children in
Tanout and 1355 moderate and 354 severe in Zinder. Basis
helath care has also been given. (p13283)
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