DR Congo: Thanks to World Vision support, Josaphat sees his siblings recover from malnutrition after losing his two sisters

By Didier Nagifi, Communications Officer

My name is Josaphat, I'm 13 and live with my mother, brothers, and sisters in Gemena in the province of Sud Ubangi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We went through a difficult time with my brother, my sisters, and my mother, who was pregnant with our little sister Joceline, when our father abandoned us. His absence affected our family to such an extent that we no longer had any food and my three sisters and brother had fallen into the malnutrition table. Our mum had nothing left and no one to help her.

While my brother and my three sisters were ill, our mother noticed a change in their state of health: their feet were swelling and they were losing weight day by day. At this point, our mum was no longer able to feed us. Our mum didn't understand anything, so she decided to take them to a fetishist for treatment. The fetishist couldn't cure them and asked our mum to take them to the hospital, but unfortunately, she had no money.

One day, we received a visit from a community volunteer who monitored my little brother and three little sisters. During his visit, he noticed that my brother and my three sisters were already suffering from malnutrition. The volunteer didn't hesitate to tell our mum to take them to the health center for treatment. Despite this treatment, my two little sisters died one after the other within a week because their malnutrition was so acute. For me, it was such a painful loss for two very dear people.

After the death of my two sisters, this same community volunteer advised our mum to bring the other two, Loraine and Ghislain, including myself, to take part in the Positive Deviance/Hearth approach sessions that World Vision was organising as part of the fight against malnutrition. During this session, she learned how to prepare vegetables with peanuts and other menus for a balanced meal. Two weeks after the Positive Deviance/Hearth sessions, Loraine and Gislain were rehabilitated, they were cured and I was also back in good health. At the end of the sessions, World Vision gave our mother a mixture of milk, sugar, cornflour, and soya so that she could continue the sessions at home.

Since our mum learned how to prepare food properly with the support of World Vision, there has been a big change in the way we eat.  She knows how to prepare food well using very little money. If our mother had learned to prepare nutritious food well before and with all the knowledge she acquired, my two sisters would not have died.

I am delighted that our family is in good health today, I am delighted to see my little brother Gislain and my little sister Loraine in good health thanks to the support of World Vision.