Baby Beto bounces back from severe malnutrition

Playful, one-year-old Beto is a picture of good health. He has that adorable smile with one top tooth and two bottom teeth. When his mum holds her face close to his, they both light up. It’s hard to believe just how severe his health condition was only six months ago.

In October 2019, when World Vision Community Health Worker, Octavio Ndaudadelela, was conducting outreach to assess children for severe acute malnutrition, he visited Beto’s home in rural Cunene Province, Angola. “One of the key methods of assessing a child’s nutritional status is to measure their mid-upper arm circumference, and Beto’s was just under 11 centimetres. He was severely malnourished and very unwell,” said Octavio. According to the World Health Organization, children with a mid-upper arm circumference of less than 11.5 centimetres have a highly elevated risk of death.

Beto’s mum Ndahambelela, aged 32, recalled, “When Beto was sick, he didn’t laugh, and he didn’t play. He cried a lot back then. He was so unwell and thin and had lots of diarrhoea. He even stopped taking my breast milk. When I tried to give him food, he didn’t really want that either. I was so worried about him.”

Angola's worst drought in 38 years

Angola has been experiencing its worst drought in 38 years. Fifty per cent of communities in southern Angola are classified as experiencing crisis levels of food insecurity and 5.6 per cent of children are severely malnourished. “During the drought, some days we ate porridge and local fruit and some days we didn’t eat at all,” shared Ndahambelela.

Octavio administered peanut-based, ready-to-use therapeutic food MANA to Beto as soon as he was identified with severe malnutrition. MANA is specifically designed to treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. “Beto didn’t like it the first day, but from the second day he ate well,” recalled Ndahambelela.

Beto’s mum was advised to take him to the hospital as soon as possible by the Community Health Worker. “I didn’t go the hospital when they told me to because it was far away and I didn’t have food or water to take with me.  It was maybe a two hour walk to the hospital,” shared Ndahambelela.

Octavio visited Beto again two days after first meeting him. “We always follow up on serious cases like his. Ndahambelela told us it was very difficult for her to reach the hospital, so we took her and Beto by car,” said Octavio.

Receiving proper nourishment in the first 1,000 days of life is crucial

Beto receiving the treatment when he did was crucial. The first 1,000 days from conception to a child’s second birthday is the time their brain begins to grow and develop. The foundation for their lifelong health is laid during this time.  Well-nourished pregnant and lactating women generally raise well-nourished children. When the opposite is true, this can have a lifelong, negative impact on a child’s ability to develop, grow and learn.

Beto makes a full recovery

Thankfully, Beto has now fully recovered. With a mid-upper arm circumference of above 12.5 centimetres, Beto is a healthy one-year-old.

“I thank God for witnessing how Beto’s health has improved. He was very sick. Seeing Beto so healthy really motivates me to continue this work,” shared Octavio.

Beto’s big, bright curious eyes take in the world around him but always seem to find their way back to the centre of his universe, his mum. The bond between Beto and his mother is beautiful. “Now he laughs and plays. I don’t worry about him like I used to. The main thing I want for Beto is for him to stay healthy,” shared a smiling Ndahambelela.

Isaias Ricardo, World Vision Angola’s Nutrition Supervisor, expressed his gratitude for the donation of MANA, “We are so grateful to Food for Famine for supplying ready-to-use therapeutic food MANA to treat Beto and thousands of other severely malnourished children in Angola. The drought has had a devasting impact on children here. This therapeutic food has made, and continues to make, a huge difference. MANA saves lives.”

World Vision has trained 542 Community Health Workers in Huila and Cunene Provinces to identify and refer severely malnourished children for treatment.

The Nutrition Systems Strengthening for Effective and Sustainable Care of Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition in Cunene and Huila Provinces project is funded by UNICEF. MANA, donated by Food for Famine through World Vision Canada, has been used to treat 14,496 severely malnourished children. This project was implemented as part of World Vision’s Southern Africa hunger emergency response.