Congo Kinshasa: Marie checks on the malnutrition centre from Lourdes

“Who will look after your clinic while you’re away, Francis?” 

I was getting off Mgr. Morgan’s coach in Lourdes for the Middlesbrough Diocesan Pilgrimage. I looked up to see who was asking me and saw that it was Marie Potter, a friend of mine of many years. We would both there as helpers, me as a brancardier and Marie as a handmaid. To answer her question, my mind ran through the way I’d set things up to keep the two centres running while I took a break. “Don’t worry, Marie,” I said, “I have twelve very capable volunteers cooking the food each day, and Judith will be in charge of them.” 

Lourdes Handmaid Marie Potter

Judith and I had originally set up the malnutrition treatment centres in Basankusu together.

Marie seemed satisfied with my answer, but the subject played on my mind. I’d decided to take a holiday during May and June, when the number of malnourished children rises noticeably. I would be back for the busiest period, the “Hungry Months” of July and August … and perhaps be able to raise some more money from the good people of Middlesbrough Diocese to pay for sacks of beans, rice, sugar, milk and so on, in the meantime.

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Children can suffer from malnutrition for various reasons. Often it follows illness: the child loses weight when they’re sick and, with the local diet, just can’t seem to put it back on again. Others come from poorly organised families or are casualties of family problems. Poverty features in all cases.

We see a rise in malnutrition every year around the same time. The mothers often rely on small fish which they can easily catch in the forest streams. These fish swim further afield when the rains come, leaving very little protein in the children’s diet. Protein-rich, edible caterpillars appear at the end of July and malnutrition subsides again.

Catfish are a protein rich food which are 

easy to catch until the rains come

Towards the end of my week in Lourdes, I met Marie again. “I’ve been thinking about your question,” I said. “Let’s phone Judith at the centre in the Congo and ask her how things are going.” I tapped out Judith’s number and she answered straight away. I told her that there was someone who wanted to say hello and passed the phone to Marie.

Francis Hannaway at the Lourdes Grotto

“Hello, Judith,” Marie started, a big smile lighting up her face as she spoke. “I’m here with Francis, who’s been telling me about your lovely work. I want you to know that we’re all very proud of you and think you’re doing a fantastic job out there. Please keep up the good work!” Then she asked how many children were at the centre now. “Quarante,” came the reply … there are forty children presently being treated at the centre.

I’ve now arrived back in Kinshasa. I’ll spend a few weeks here, buying supplies, and then make the journey into the interior, to Basankusu, where I will expect to see seventy children by that time.

Congo Kinshasa: My kitten's death prepared me for children's deaths

Just before I started my centre for malnutrition, in Basankusu, we decided to keep one of our cat’s three kittens. He followed me about and eventually became my kitten. Unfortunately, he suddenly refused to eat. Try as I might, he clamped his mouth shut whenever I tried to feed him. Day by day, he became thinner. His brothers, whom we’d given away, were already feasting on mice and rats. Each day he’d come into my room, looking for somewhere to rest his bony frame … and after two weeks of not eating he simply went to sleep and didn’t wake up. It made me sad.

The little kitten on the left refused to eat.

“This is what I’m going to see when I start feeding malnourished children,” I told Fr. John. “If I’m upset about a cat dying, what am I going to do when it’s a child who dies?”

“Focus on the positives,” he replied. “You’ll have some setbacks, but there will be even more successes in your work,”

And so it was. Over the years, around forty children attending my centres have died. They’d either been brought along too late, or their parents refused to follow the programme. On the positive side, we’ve saved the lives of over two thousand children!

In the course of this work, we recently had a visit from a new doctor called Patrick (it’s a popular name in the Congo!). He reminded us that play, and a positive attitude, can have a great effect on getting children better.

In the early days we’d received several children as companions of the sick children, usually relatives. They enjoyed singing, dancing and playing … and their actions could be infectious. Unfortunately, those children have since gone, and others go to school. We see the parents of the malnourished children as desperate, worried, often depressed. The children themselves sit, listless, staring into space … waiting for their food.

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So, even though it’s not easy, we’ve been re-motivated by Doctor Patrick’s words. We’ve introduced some games and singing and encourage brothers and sisters to play during our feeding sessions - even if the poorly children can only watch.

June and July are our busiest months, with up to seventy children expected. It would be great if, as well as giving them nutritious food and medical attention, we could also raise their spirits a bit through singing and play.

My new kitten - Panda

As for my cat, I eventually got over it. A few weeks ago, centre manager, Judith, came along with a present for me. It was a new kitten.

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