A mother's concern

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

 

“My child is looking tiny. The spark from her eyes has faded; legs and hands
are gradually desiccating like a dry fish. Her frequently to responding to my
call has slowed down and she has stopped crawling. She has even stopped
calling me mom with her sweet voice, says 25-year-old *Salma”.        ‍She holds her child, eight-month-old *Zara, in her lap at noon time with pelts
of sweat dripping from her face while she sits under the tent, made of bamboo and black
polythene. She adds “My child is suffering from diarrhea since last two days; she doesn’t
intake anything accept breast-milk. Look at her she is now physically weak. How could
I produce breast milk, last one month I survived only on eating survival
packages [rice, lentils, sugar and salt], which is not sufficient for a lactating mother”.  

Salma, her husband along with five children escaped from Myanmar at last 26 August 2017. While they journeyed to Bangladesh they ate nothing. Three days they had to stay in the forest and eat tree leaves to survive. The children cried for food while the youngest for breast-milk. However, it was not possible for her to feed the child because they had to walk continuously to avoid getting caught. Finally they entered Bangladesh about a one-month ago. They got a makeshift area to settle in and survival food packages.  

“In my village in Myanmar had access to milk, green vegetable and fish from my homestead area.
It gave me enough body strengthen and produce breast-milk. I also cooked hotchpotch for my child as well.
It helped her grow,” she says.   

The Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) estimates that approximately 100,000 Myanmar Refugee children currently staying in the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, over 61,000 are under the age of five and many of these are severely malnourished.

As per UNICEF report (4 Oct), It is estimated that one out of five children under the age of five suffers from acute malnutrition.

26-year-old, Jamira who lives in the neighborhood tents of Hasina with two children adds, “We are sleeping on the ground with our little children. The black polythene tent produces lots of heat. Our children are facing skin diseases and sometime vomiting. Beside these issues we don’t have women bathing place. We use wet towels to clean ourselves inside the tent.”  

Photo : 26-year-old, Jamira who lives in a  tent with two children . The black polythene tent produces lots of heat. Her children are suffering from skin diseases. There is no female bathing place there. 

 

26-year-old *Zina, mother of 8-month-old *Hena and 2 year-old *Zakir says, “My two children are now suffering from diarrhea. Zakir stopped feeding on breast milk. There is no provision to get any baby food for the children. My children are facing lots of problems. They are gradually losing their weight.”     

32-year-old *Ayisha who just got medicine from the nearest medical camp, says, “I come here to get my baby’s health status checked. He is gradually losing his weight. Doctor has given some vitamins for my child.” 

People fleeing the violence that erupted in Myanmar now arrive daily in Bangladesh Cox’s Bazar area.
Many people have got places in temporary camps and many have received survival emergency food packages but are yet to receive.

 * Not real names

 

The Story and Photo  was captured by Golam Ehsanul Habib on 13 October 2017Edited by Annila Harries