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STORY: ETHIOPIA / DROUGHT
TRT: 2.06
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: AFAR OROMO/ AMHARIC / NATS
DATELINE: 11 JULY 2011, BELINA ARBA, ETHIOPIA
1. Various shots, dry earth with small crops
2. Various shots, Genete brings her baby to feeding clinic
3. SOUNDBITE (Afar Oromo) Genete Mohammed, Mother:
“I took her to many places seeking a cure, wondering what kind of illness had come over her.”
4. Various shots, feeding clinic
5. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Lemlem Worku, Health Worker:
“The situation is different this year. The rains came late. At this time there should be harvests. We wouldn’t be treating so many children because they would have food to eat.”
6. Various, families at health clinic
7. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Lemlem Worku, Health Worker:
“When Iman first came she was five and a half kilogrammes. Her discharge weight is 6.3 kilogrammes. Today, in her third week, her weight has reached six kilogrammes. The swelling is gone, she is getting better.”
8. Various shots, baby Iman eating plumpynut
9. Various shots, village
10. SOUNDBITE (Afar Oromo) Genete Mohammed, Mother:
“Right now we are waiting for the next harvest, but we are not sure if there will be hunger or plenty. We are just not sure.”
11. Various shots, baby Iman with her mother
The rains have failed in Eastern Ethiopia, with devastating consequences for children.
When baby Iman became swollen, lost weight, and couldn’t sleep, her mother Genete (Janetay) did not at first know what was wrong.
When she finally brought her to the Belina Arba therapeutic feeding centre she was desperate.
SOUNDBITE (Afar Oromo) Genete Mohammed, Mother:
“I took her to many places seeking a cure, wondering what kind of illness had come over her.”
Drought has resulted in high levels of malnutrition among children in this district. The feeding centre staff say it has never been this bad.
SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Lemlem Worku, Health Worker:
“The situation is different this year. The rains came late. At this time there should be harvests. We wouldn’t be treating so many children because they would have food to eat.”
Instead, families are lined up at the centre. The numbers of severely malnourished are three times higher than last year.
This is Iman’s third visit, and the results are encouraging.
SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Lemlem Worku, Health Worker:
“When Iman first came she was five and a half kilogrammes. Her discharge weight is 6.3 kilogrammes. Today, in her third week, her weight has reached six kilogrammes. The swelling is gone, she is getting better.”
As a test of her appetite Iman is given a sachet of ready to use therapeutic food, plumpynut—and she has no trouble eating it.
Malnutrition has long been a severe challenge for Ethiopia … yet despite the worsening effects of climate change, significant progress has been made in the last twenty years. The drought threatens to wipe out those gains.
Genete’s family’s hopes are pinned on the next harvest, in a few months time.
SOUNDBITE (Afar Oromo) Genete Mohammed, Mother:
“Right now we are waiting for the next harvest, but we are not sure if there will be hunger or plenty. We are just not sure.”
UNICEF is asking for ten million dollars to help save the lives of Ethiopian children like Iman over the next three months.
