Photos: Amazing transformation of a once severely malnourished child abandoned by mother in Borno IDP camp

Severely malnourished 14-month-old Falmata was rescued from Fori IDP camp in Maiduguri by ACE Charity, three weeks ago. She was abandoned and left for dead by her mother. Her grandmother hid her away, rarely took her out and with no food and water, the child was almost dead by the time the Ace team found her. She is cureently recovering at Shhu Musa Ultramodel Hospital, Bulunkutu, Maiduguri. Below is her story, photos. Good job, Ace Team!!!

This is what Falmata looks like now! Almost three weeks later from the day we met her in December 2016. The ACE Charity team recently visited an IDP camp to tackle severe malnutrition in Maiduguri, Borno State under our Affordable Healthcare focus. Our search first led us to Fori Camp where we met 14 month old Falmata.

Falmata was in the company of an elderly woman thought to be her mother, however upon inquiry we learnt that her mother had abandoned her and left her for dead and her maternal grandmother took her in, severly malnourished and very sick.

Falmata's grandmother hid her away and rarely took her out, with no food to eat and no support from any quarter- Falmata was already dying... On sighting Falmata, our volunteer doctor immediately advised we take her to the hospital. Moments later, Falmata and her grandmother were no where to be found. We were later told that she was scared we were going to take her granddaughter away as it is assumed children who look like Falmata are seen as cursed.

Our team literally went on a search for Falmata and two days later found her almost lifeless, Gambo (our staff) had to put his ear to her chest to hear if her heart was beating as she showed no sign of life. Still, after much persuasion her grandmother accepted our plea to save little Falmata by taking her to the hospital where she is now and still recovering at Shehu Musa Ultamodel Hospital, Bulunkutu, Maiduguri. A massive thank you to all of the doctors and nurses who are treating Falmata free of charge! 

Our ACE Charity kitchen has been feeding 1200 children daily at the Muna IDP camp in Maiduguri, where we have employed women from the camp as cooks.

We are looking forward to assisting, caring and empowering more African lives this year! Happy new year!