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Little Gabriel’s fate
By
George Ntonya - 04-06-2002 |
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....Malnutrition makes him look older than his age
A delegation of German nationals nearly shed tears when it heard the plight of 16 year-old Janet Msefe, who is fending for her old and blind grandmother and two siblings after losing both parents.
Janet dropped out of Standard 5 at Dwangwa Primary School in Kasungu district at the beginning of the current academic year. The death of her mother last February forced her out of school—to fend for her grandmother and siblings. Her father, a smallholder farmer, died two years ago.
“She is the one looking after me and her two siblings,” Janet’s grand mother, Alice Phiri, told the delegation—comprising men and women—who raise money in their country to help Unicef finance development projects in developing countries.
Janet works as a labourer at an Admarc depot about five kilometers from her home. Her salary is barely enough to buy food for the family—one of the poorest at Magwalangwa village in the area of Chief Chulu.
“She gets an average of K500 per month after deduction of some money for the maize she gets on credit,” reported the grandmother.
At the time of the visit Janet was at work. On that day the family had nothing for breakfast. Nsima and pumpkin leaves served as lunch for the grandmother and Janet’s brothers—Gabriel, 10 and Lawrent, 9. According to the grandmother, the family usually has a single meal per day—nsima with vegetables or beans. A balanced diet is something out of their reach.
The food crisis that hit the country, forcing a majority of people to depend on maize bran and wild foods, did not spare this poor family either. Malnutrition among the grandmother and Janet’s brothers is clear testimony that the food crisis never spared the family.
Unlike his younger brother, Gabriel can hardly walk. His hair looks curly and the face older than his age. Despite attempts by the visitors to cheer him up, he remained resigned.
“He does not go to school because of poor health,” said the grandmother, who looks younger than her age.
Members of the delegation could not afford to continue asking questions. They were overwhelmed by the extent of poverty in which Janet and her relatives live. The four stay in a mud grass-thatched hut.
“I am really shocked. I know that most Malawians are poor but this family needs our support. I hope we can do something to assist,” said Sabine Muller-Esch, a mother of three who showed passion for children during the seven days the delegation was in the country.
Kasungu district social welfare officer Bosman Banda said Gabriel needs special diet for him to get back to normal.
Unless something is done quickly for poor Gabriel—the worst affected in the family by malnutrition—his condition may not improve.
The problem of orphans in the country continues to worsen. Most of them lose their parents to Aids-related diseases. According to statistics, there are nearly two million orphans in the country at the moment.
It is not known whether Gabriel’s parents died of Aids-related diseases. The grandmother, who lost her sight in 1994 after a long illness said that her daughter and son-in-law died of natural illness.
“They fell ill. It was natural illness,” she explained adding that her husband also died of natural illness two years ago. Banda could also not link Gabriel’s ill-health to HIV—the virus that causes Aids.
“I don’t think he would reach that age if he were infected with HIV through mother-to-child transmission,” Banda observed.
“I think it’s purely an issue of malnourishment,” he said.
When Janet is away, well-wishers in the village, including members of a committee that provide home-based care to the sick, cook for the grandmother and the children.
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