We have just arrived back to Freetown. We held the clinic sessions this past weekend. We were swamped with patients. We were fortunate to have brought extra supplement with us, because otherwise we would have ran out. We went through about 130 pounds of the supplement.
We operate our Taiama malnutrition program alongside the health center’s under five child check-up, shot, and treatment day on Friday. It works well, because many patients that come to the clinic to be treated for malaria or another illness are also malnourished. This Friday, a family brought a child in that was on the verge of death. They were from a quite remote village, so it was a difficult, long walk to the health center. They explained that the child had been sick for a long time, and then he got better. He again got sick, very sick this time, so they decided to make the journey to the clinic. The family arrived too late. There was nothing that could be done to save the boy, so all they could do was make him as comfortable as possible by laying him in a bed. This boy was only about a year old. As his family left the clinic to walk back to their village in mourning, we continued with the nutrition program. It seemed like all of the children we were weighing and measuring had very high fevers. This usually means they have malaria. In the case of a fever, or if we detect another illness we refer them to the health care workers for treatment. The mothers who we told needed to take their child to receive treatment were not going. They took their sick children and the supplement and left. They were not going to receive the treatment because it costs money. To register for treatment costs 1,000 leones (about 30 cents). Then, there is an additional cost for the antibiotics they are given. The mothers have NO MONEY. They don’t even have enough money for food which is why their children are malnourished, so there is no way they would have money for the luxury of a children’s Tylenol or other medicine. Our nutrition program does not cost anything. It is funded by donations, and we praise God for this, but the supplement does not reduce fever, treat malaria, or help with other serious illnesses.
The problem of mothers not being able to pay for health care for their children is linked to the one year old boy that died in Taiama Friday. His family members did not take him to the clinic, because there was no reason to. They knew the treatment cost money that they did not have. They ended up coming when they did because they knew the child was on the verge of death and had no other option but to come to the clinic. This problem is not the fault of the health care center. You should see the nurses as they sadly turn people away when mothers come without registration money. Without knowing the situation, one would think the nurses are heartless to be able to turn a child away from receiving treatment, but if they begin making exceptions and giving treatment for free, then all the patients will expect free treatment. It is unfair to show favoritism. The nurses must charge a registration fee, because this is how the drugs and their salaries are paid. Without the fee, there would not be any medicine. What I am describing is the cycle of poverty. This cycle cannot be broken by a doctor coming and offering free drugs and treatment one week out of the year, it cannot be broken by a simple monetary donation to the clinic. In my opinion, in the little experience I do have here, it can only be broken by community-based, sustainable empowerment. It means learning all there is to know from the people who live and suffer from the cycle of poverty daily. It means truly listening to what they think will help the situation. I really, really want a quick fix to the problem at the Taiama health center. It makes me uncomfortable, sick, sad, and hopeless to see people in such a dire situation. While a quick fix would make me feel better, it is a selfish desire. Yes, we may see the problem at the Taiama clinic solved, but what about the clinic ten years from now or all the other clinics in the country? This is a problem that will take a lot more time, energy, listening, sharing, and understanding to find the way the problem can be resolved.
Having experienced a child dying, you can’t help but think about how God could allow such a thing to happen. But in God’s love and patience, his desire is to work through us as he calls us to be where the world is in pain. We are called to work together as his community, the body of Christ, using our reliance upon the Holy Spirit for truth in every dilemma we encounter. My prayer is that we may have God’s patience and love, as we strive to discover God’s means of restoration for the suffering we hear about and experience throughout the world.
Yesterday we participated in a fair for the kickoff of the mom and child health week (in krio it is called Mami en Pikin Welbodi Week) in Freetown. Mike and I were there representing Project Peanut Butter. All the organizations that work on behalf of the mothers and children of Sierra Leone came to explain their programs and give hands-on demonstrations to the mothers that attended. There were presentations on safe handwashing, malaria prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention, blood pressure testing, good complementary feeding examples, safe feeding habits and many more. 
