Baby Farah: Starving boy now a picture of health

When The Standard published the picture of the emaciated frame of little Minhaj Gedi Farah in July, it tore at the hearts of our readers, and captured the inside account of the biting hunger that was forcing hundreds to flee Somalia for refugee camps in Kenya.By Moses Njagih and AP

Today, little Farah is nine-months-old and his chubby cheeks and glowing face are a far cry from the skeletal figure that shocked the world. Farah is now a well-fed, healthy looking, smart boy, thanks to the generosity of millions of ordinary Kenyans who contributed the little they could in what eventually became the Kenyans for Kenya initiative to feed the hungry, which raised about Sh1 billion.

Minhaj Gedi Farah is held in the arms of his mother Asiah Dagane at the International Rescue Committee hospital in Dadaab, Kenya. After months of intensive feeding the Somali boy has chubby cheeks and the smile of most babies his age. Phot: AP/Standard(inset).

Three months ago, the pitiful image of the minor carried on the front page of The Standard on July 28, became the face of hunger in the region, and the rallying call for relief aid for millions who were starving.

The minor’s picture had been taken in the massive Dadaab Refugee Camp. His mother had sought refuge from Somalia as thousands flocked the camp from their country, running away from eminent death.

Farah, who by then weighed only 3.2kg, less than most new-borns, was among the many children who arrived at the camp with their mothers, desperately requiring urgent attention, as the gloomy picture of the hunger occasioned by prolonged drought was laid bare.

Reaction from Kenyans came swiftly, as the boy’s frail image became the talk even on radio talk shows. Kenyans had to act to help in feeding their colleagues whose lives were under the threat of starvation, notably in northern Kenya.

It is the disturbing photo that resulted in the massive campaign dubbed Kenyans for Kenya. Philanthropists, corporate organisations, and ordinary Kenyans contributed towards feeding the hungry.

Commercial banks and mobile telephone service providers who deal in money transfers opened up accounts where Kenyans could respond to the hunger situation.

Kenyans were largely mobilised into action, forcing many to forfeit meals to make contribution towards the noble cause.

From offices, learning institutions, churches, and other places the campaign was intensified, with the money and food realised periodically distributed by relief agencies to areas worst affected. International aid agencies also followed with their relief supplies, supplementing what Kenyans had contributed.

The Government’s response was equally swift, with President Kibaki hosting a high-level international meeting, bringing together presidents and leaders of neighbouring countries to discuss the hunger situation in Horn of Africa.

Three months after Farah became the face of hunger, weeks of intensive feeding, though, have transformed him into a chubby-cheeked boy, who crawls. This is one of several stories highlighted on Wednesday in an annual New York fundraising by the aid group, International Rescue Committee, which helped nurse Farah.

Famine has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Somali children this year. But the UN said despite restrictions by Islamist insurgents, heavy rains and fighting, aid agencies are expanding their reach. Food aid is now getting to 2.2 of four million Somalis who need it, the UN said.

Everyone’s happy

"His mother never thought he would recover. Every member of his family is happy," said Sirat Amin, a nurse-nutritionist with the International Rescue Committee.

"He can sit without being supported, he can have (nutritional supplement) Plumpynut on his own. He’s crawling." In July, when the UN declared parts of Somalia famine zones, Farah was one of dozens of limp babies lying under mosquito net shreds in the sweltering wards of the IRC hospital in Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp.

The boy is now about 8kgs, almost normal for a baby his age.

Since the beginning of the year, hundreds of thousands of Somali families have poured over the border, fleeing war and hunger. Domes made from dirty tarpaulins and scraps of cloth mushroomed on the scrublands of northern Kenya. The UN’s famine announcement brought planeloads of television crews to capture images of suffering.

Now the torrent of refugees fleeing into Kenya has slowed to a trickle and the camera crews have gone home. But that doesn’t mean the emergency is over.

Nearly two million Somalis still don’t have access to food aid. Rain has turned tracks through the bush to slush and there’s been fighting along the border after hundreds of Kenyan soldiers crossed into Somalia.

Last month’s incursion followed a string of kidnappings on Kenyan soil by Somali gunmen.

Families wanting to flee may fear being caught up in the fighting or be stuck in the mud.

Only the strongest are getting through. When they arrive, they are not only starving, but also sick and exhausted, Amin said. So although less are coming, when they arrive in the refugee camps in Kenya many are in a more severe state of starvation.

Two tents have expanded the ward where Amin works, but even so, 78 children are sharing 56 beds. That’s about twice as many as when Farah was admitted. Some children are in even worse condition.

Infectious diseases

The UN Children’s Fund said around 168,0000 acutely malnourished children under the age of five could die within weeks. They are concerned about infectious diseases like measles, cholera and malaria, particularly in the dirty and overcrowded camps in Mogadishu.

"The famine is not over ... Children are dying daily," said Hannan Sulieman, Unicef’s deputy representative for Somalia.

"Malnutrition has been way above emergency levels for over 10 years."

She said that her organisation was planning to maintain current levels of aid until August or September next year, when Somalia would have had a long and a short rain harvest.

The famine is the worst emergency to hit Somalia for a generation. The UN has appealed for $1 billion and has got $779 million so far.

But aid still doesn’t reach many of the starving. Islamist militias battling the weak UN-backed government have forbidden many aid agencies to operate in their territory, exacerbating the effects of a severe drought.

So even after their parents have struggled through the mud, have made it past the militias, and have staggered into the hospital, it is still too late for many, said Amin.

"I’m coping with it but sometimes it’s heartbreaking. People are suffering. Sometimes they die in front of you," he said. "Sometimes you want to help, but the numbers are just so high. There are just so many."

But seeing children like Farah recover gives him the strength to go on

The Standard

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