Basankusu: Sad news about Gaella from the nutrition project

The nutrition project continues in Basankusu. I am still in England for a medical check, but hope to get back soon. 

The twins, Gaelle and Gaella were taken back to their village deeper in the forest. With no Social Services in Basankusu, we had no power to stop them going. I thought that, now that the mother had arrived from Kinshasa, and that she understood the dire situation her children were – through our intervention – emerging from, she would make a big effort to feed them up.

Francis Hannaway with Gaella when
she started the program

Judith thought that they would die. “They will be fed on cassava and cassava leaves like everyone else in the villages,” she said. Cassava is a root, (in fact it’s tapioca) and it’s a staple food here. It contains virtually no protein at all. The leaves are pounded and boiled as a vegetable a bit like cabbage.

Gaella (seated) with her brother Gaelle

I have left some time between events and reporting them here, to lessen the blow. When I was in Kinshasa in August I received the news about Gaella, the little girl. She had made so much progress at the feeding project and at Judith’s house. I’d sat with her on my knee and got the local kids to entertain her by singing and dancing. I’d carried her around the garden and got her to name the fruits on the trees while Judith cooked on a fire for her and her brother. 

Judith, cooking for the twins at her house

Unfortunately, the news I received  while I was in Kinshasa was that she had died in her village.

Malnutrition is a complicated condition. It’s not just a matter of feeding children with the correct foods, foods that give them energy, that help them grow and repair their bodies, and that protect them from illness – there’s much more to it. The liver becomes damaged, the immune system is diminished, and the bacteria in the gut dies off and is replaced with aggressive bacteria. Children in this situation can die from the slightest infection and it could be that Gaella had already passed the point of no return.

Gaella at Judith's house where she showed signs of progress

We pray for the repose of her soul. Five years old and already gone. We pray for all the other children who have died in the same conditions – Lord give us the strength to guide families through these difficulties in life and to help others to avoid it happening. We pray for Gaella’s family, I’m sure they did what they thought was best – and let's not forget her twin brother who she left behind.

Francis Hannaway with the twins and Judith's little boy (centre)

We’ve had more than seventy graduates from the supplementary feeding project in Basankusu. Some dropped out before they should have – and of those six have since died, including Gaella.

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