KENYA / DROUGHT MALNUTRITION

The Kenyan Government with help from UNICEF set up a health centre in the  Turkana district that provides services within reach of children and families who would otherwise have to walk hours to the district hospital. It's also meant to reduce the rate of severe malnutrition among Turkana children under five, which has spiked as high as 37 percent in some areas. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:36
• Production Date: 5 December 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HEALTH SERVICES; HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; HUMAN RIGHTS; SOCIAL WELFARE; SOCIAL SERVICES
• MAMS Id: U111205d

Description

STORY: KENYA / DROUGHT MALNUTRITION
TRT: 2:36
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: TURKANA / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: NOVEMBER 2011, TURKANA DISTRICT, KENYA

Shotlist

1. Various shots, Agnes Longor and Akal Longor her son Ekalale Ngaukon walking
2. Med shot, doctor measuring Ekalale for malnutrition
3. Close up, Ekalale Ngaukon
4. Pan left to right, huts in the Lokitoeliwo Village
5. Med shot, Akal with her son Ekalale
6. Close up, Ekalale Ngaukon at home in his village
7. Tilt up, from Ekalale on the weighing scale to his aunt's face at the health center
8. SOUNDBITE (Turkana) Agnes Longor, Ekalale’s aunt:
“The child was sick between July and August this year. He had frequent diarrhoea, was losing weight and had a high fever. When we took him to the health center, they admitted him to the therapeutic feeding programme.”
9. Med shot, doctors handing out the therapeutic food
10. Tilt down, doctor weighing Ekalale
11. SOUNDBITE (Turkana) Agnes Longor, Ekalale’s aunt:
“At first, the child was not responding but slowly he has improved, both in weight and in his overall condition.”
12. Tilt up, from doctors measuring child's height to mother
13. Tilt up, from child on the weighing scale, crying, to the scale itself
14. Various shots, women walking in the rocky plains of the Turkana district
15. Wide shot, the UNICEF supported health center and people waiting outside
16. Med shot, doctor measuring child's arm
17. Med shot, mother holding her child as doctor pulls him out of the weighing scale
18. Close up, child's upper arm being measured
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Olivia Yambi, UNICEF Representative in Kenya
“This is a great improvement since the situation in July. It means that the outreach services that are being provided in the communities where people and children are are actually effective.”
20. Med shot, Akal and Agnes walking into their hut
21. Wide shot, Akal and Agnes weaving brooms
22. Med shot, pan right to left, Akal weaving broom to Agnes weaving broom
23. Med shot, low angle, Anges weaving broom
24. Pan right to left, Akal weaving broom with Ekalale in her lap

Storyline

Once a week, Akal and Agnes Longor walk for two kilometres across the rocky plain of Turkana in northwest Kenya.

They’ve been bringing Akal’s son, Ekalale, to this health centre where the one-year-old has been receiving treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

Earlier this year, the family lost a lot of their livestock to the prolonged drought in the region. There had no money to buy food.

As a result, Ekalale’s health rapidly deteriorated. He grew weak and dehydrated.

SOUNDBITE (Turkana), Agnes Longor, Ekalale’s aunt:
“The child was sick between July and August this year. He had frequent diarrhoea, was losing weight and had a high fever. When we took him to the health center, they admitted him to the therapeutic feeding programme.”

The parents were given therapeutic food to take home and since then, they’ve been bringing Ekalale back for regular check-ups.

Each week, the nurse weighed him and assessed his progress

SOUNDBITE (Turkana) Agnes Longor, Ekalale’s aunt :
“At first, the child was not responding but slowly he has improved, both in weight and in his overall condition.”

The Kenyan Government opened the Kak-wan-yang Health Center in July – with nutrition supplies, vaccines and medicines from UNICEF. Now, families don’t have the four-hour walk to the district hospital to seek medical help.

Like similar centers around Turkana, doctors here offer health, immunization and nutrition services that have led to a reduction in the malnutrition rates in the region.

SOUNDBITE (English) Olivia Yambi, UNICEF Representative in Kenya
“This is a great improvement since the situation in July. It means that the outreach services that have been provided in the communities where people and children, are actually effective.”

Back home, Akal and Agnes weave brooms to sell hoping this will compensate for their lost animals.

With no end in sight to the drought, they’re being forced to abandon their traditional lifestyle.

Hundreds of thousands like them are now left struggling to cope with the lasting changes that have come to their timeless way of life.