Stories from the Field: My journey to Chad (part three)

By Karen, Published: May 17, 2012
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Dennis McKinlay, UNICEF NZ’s Executive Director, continues his trip in Chad to look at the unfolding food crisis there. Here he talks about meeting malnourished children at a health centre and the amazing work UNICEF is doing to help them….

At the Bunda health centre this morning I met Ashta – a 27 year old mum to nine children.

Dennis meets Ashta and her son Deia

She was with her six month old son Deia. Ashta had been breastfeeding her son but he had started to vomit after feeding. Without breast milk Deia had started to become severely malnourished, so Ashta brought him to the health centre.

At the centre I saw Deia being fed with plumpy’nut (a peanut based food packed with nutrients, costing only NZ70c a sachet) and then left to rest and see if he would retain this food. The good news is he did.

The other mothers were at the centre because their children were severely malnourished. The children are weighed and then measured determine their body weight and height against what is normal. A record is created and maintained of the child’s progress. Once it is confirmed the child can accept plumpy’nut then they are sent home with a week’s supply. Normally they have three sachets a day. A week later mother and child will return for another supply and the child can be checked for progress.

plumpy'nut - the amazing product UNICEF is using to save children's lives

This process lasts a month and by then the child should be ready to move on to regular food again. If they are not ready then the treatment is continued until they are back on their feet again.

Astoundingly, 128,000 children in Chad need this care and up to a million across the Sahel. Without more funding UNICEF can’t reach them all – but we must and soon.

Donate and help buy plumpy’nut for children in Chad like Deia who need our help

Categories: Emergencies, Food, Health, Kiwis in the field, UNICEF IN ACTION | Leave a comment

Stories from the Field: My Journey to Chad – Part Two

By Ella, Published: May 16, 2012
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Dennis McKinlay, UNICEF NZ’s Executive Director, has arrived in Chad to look at the unfolding food crisis there. Here he reflects on his first day meeting those affected…. 

Mouland is a one year old boy who has suffered two bouts, of acute malnutrition. He will be in hospital for three weeks. Most of this time he will spend recovering with the help of therapeutic milk and the last few days he will start on a special peanut based paste packed with nutrients. He and his mother will then leave for the 25km trip home. If they can afford $1 for a motorbike taxi it will be a 30 minute trip but if not then a three hour walk.

Failed crops are leading to reduced family income across Chad

Life is tough in Chad at the moment. This story is one of many I heard today. With failed crops leading to reduced family income and food insecurity, families are struggling to survive in too many cases.

In 2011 when the rains came in June, crops were planted but the rains were not enough and in 45c heat the crops shrivelled up. More rain later in the month and again crops were planted and failed due to lack of water. Over June/July this process happened three times. Families spent their money on seed and tried their best but to no avail.

This situation is shocking but it is not hopeless and that is what impressed me today; seeing how work today will help when future droughts occur, as they sadly will. The causes of the nutrition crises in Chad and across the Sahel are not man made but organisations like UNICEF can reduce the impact of such droughts in the future. It is this long term planning which is so important, sitting alongside activities to address immediate needs.

Children sleeping while waiting to receive health services in Chad, April 2012.

At the beginning of the year Chad had 280 health clinics where children were treated for malnutrition, given vitamin A, immunised, and mothers educated about hand-washing and childcare. Now there are 350 clinics and UNICEF is planning for over 450 by the end of June. Health clinic are addressing the immediate nutrition needs but they will stay and build resilience against future droughts.

Likewise wells are being dug. Today I went to a region where 50 wells have been drilled and pumps installed. Latrines are being dug and villagers educated that use of latrines and handwashing will save their children from repeated illness.

I really am encouraged by the way your money is being spent on initiatives that are both immediate and long term. And the people I met are so grateful just to have safe water. When you see the gratitude you just want to do more and more to keep improving their lives.

Help must be given now to avoid a humanitarian disaster. We are at UNICEF NZ are doing all we can and with your help we will save lives now and at the same time build in resilience for the future.

Donate here to support UNICEF’s work in Chad www.unicef.org.nz/sound-the-alarm

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My Journey to Chad – Part One

By Ella, Published: May 15, 2012
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By Dennis McKinlay, Executive Director at UNICEF NZ

Dennis McKinlay with measuring band that assesses whether a child is malnourished. UNICEF uses this measuring band on a child's upper arm to indicate how thin it is.

I have seen children pulled back from the brink of death and this was very evident in my visit to Kenya last year during the Horn of Africa crisis. Seeing children fighting for their lives because of malaria and starvation is extremely distressing, especially when they need never have to be so ill because the solution is inexpensive and effective.

Last year the world was too late responding to the pleas for help from the Horn of Africa, and as a consequence thousands of families died unnecessarily. We cannot let this happen again only one year later, with a very similar crisis unfolding in the Sahel region of West Africa.

Today 15 million people are affected by drought and food shortages – they haven’t had enough time to recover fully from the last drought in 2010, to be able to withstand this current situation. It’s expected to get so bad that one million children could starve to death in the region.

Can you imagine what it must be like to be starving and not able to eat regular food, even if it were available? Children who are severely malnourished need special therapeutic milk and food which is all their digestive systems can process. Even though I have seen hundreds of severely malnourished children, I cannot imagine how it must feel for them and their parents.

But having seen what happened in the Horn of Africa last year I am determined that we at UNICEF New Zealand do all we can to stop as many children as possible from dying. We cannot stand by and let another tragedy unfold when it is within our power to make a difference.

It is because we have a window of opportunity to avoid thousands of deaths, that I am travelling to Chad to see the current situation for myself and to highlight the need for immediate action. Immediate action is cheaper and saves lives. I want to use this trip to help raise awareness and funds and be an active force for helping the children of the Sahel.

I really need your help to make this happen. New Zealanders have a deserved reputation for being generous and I appeal to you once again to spread the word through your networks and help us prevent another tragedy.

Look out for more updates, images and video from me over the next couple of weeks and if there’s anything you want to ask me just post a question below and I’ll get back to you on my return from Chad.

And if you want to make a donation, you can do that here www.unicef.org.nz/sound-the-alarm

 

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A filmmaker’s journey

By Ella, Published: May 4, 2012
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Part one of an interview with Maggie Betts; Documentary filmmaker, HIV and AIDS Campaigner and UNICEF Supporter.

UNICEF NZ is working with the Documentary Edge Film Festival to screen a series of films about issues that affect children. Our flagship film The Carrier, which UNICEF NZ arranged to bring to New Zealand as part of the Festival is a powerful true story of one woman’s journey as she comes to terms with HIV.

To find out more, UNICEF NZ’s Ella Anselmi caught up with New York based producer/director, Maggie Betts, to ask what inspired her to produce the documentary and what it was like filming this compelling story in remote Africa.

Ella: So, Maggie please tell us in your own words what The Carrier is about?

I’m very proud of The Carrier – my first film which is a feature documentary set in a southern province of rural Zambia. I spent 4 months living there and shooting the story. The film follows the experiences of one woman, a very beautiful and heroic young mother named Mutinta, who first learns she’s HIV- positive and soon after, discovers she’s pregnant. Mutinta then sets out on a journey to try and save her unborn baby from her disease.

Ella: I’ve seen the film and it is a really powerful story with a very important message that maybe many of us don’t know much about. How did you become interested in HIV prevention in the first place?

I think the moment when I started to understand the full impact of AIDS in Africa, was the first time I ever saw a child who was born infected with HIV. Some 6 years ago now, I was on a UNICEF-hosted field visit to South Africa, which ultimately led us to a small pediatric clinic along the outskirts of Soweto. A little boy in the clinic had sat quietly playing along the floor, he turned from his toys to look up at me and his face made an expression I’m sure I couldn’t ever fully describe -the unbelievable strain and effort it actually took this boy to smile, is something that has never left me.

Ella: So how did you move from only having an interest in HIV prevention to creating a film about the issue?

The film ultimately came about after I’d learnt more about the impact of HIV and AIDS and what it was doing to the continent. After numerous trips to Africa I started to learn about different methods of prevention such as PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission). Like so many others, I also realized that PMTCT may hold the key to soon creating a new HIV generation in Africa. And I found that, just the concept of it, so incredibly moving and wanted to find a way to tell a very intimate and emotional story about it: Focused on one mother’s journey, one mother’s love and determination to protect her unborn baby from HIV. So that’s how it happened….

Ella: Being filmed must have been quite a new experience for Mutinta and her family. How did you manage to gain such close access to their lives to be able to film them?

I really have to give most of the credit to them and to Mutinta especially. She was so open, honest, intimate and brave all throughout the process. Neither she, nor most of the people in this tiny little community, had ever actually seen a movie before! So they also didn’t have any of that helpless self-censorship and self-awareness about being filmed. They never changed themselves for the sake of a camera because they’d never seen anyone on film before

Ella: Some people might wonder if any of the film was, ‘staged’. What would you say to that?

I didn’t really do that much staging. The filming obviously, and at least in terms of that way it was shot, carried a lot of high aesthetic aims. Myself and the cinematographer both wanted everything to be as beautiful and ‘poetic’ feeling as possible. So some of the locations and times of day we chose to shoot specific moments were more carefully thought out, only to get the best light and backdrop and mood. But the content of their words was always them and just what they said to each other in a given moment.

Ella: How did making the film affect you personally?

Making the film obviously affected me deeply, it was such an incredibly intense and emotional journey for me, as well as for everyone else involved. It’s fair to say that the film and my whole experience making it was a tremendous labour of love. I’ve definitely become quite a staunch and vocal advocate for the need for greater female equality and women’s rights all throughout the developing world.

Ella: And how do you feel about the film being shown in New Zealand?

I’m extremely excited that “The Carrier” will be playing in New Zealand, as part of the Documentary Edge Film Festival. I so hope people will find the time to go see it, possibly even be touched by and inspired by its message.

Coming soon in part two. Maggie on Mutinta and her family post movie and UNICEF NZ’s Sarah Morris on the continuing work in creating an AIDS free generation.  

The Carrier will be shown as part of the 2012 Documentary Edge Film Festival in Auckland and Wellington. The Carrier, which has a screening in Auckland on 13th May for Mother’s Day, will be shown alongside other UNICEF sponsored films including Dolphin Boy, The Last Days of Winter and Mother – Caring for 7 Billion.

To view the trailer or find out when it is screening visit: www.docnz.org.nz/2012/ak/film/carrier

Donate to UNICEF’s HIV appeal to help mothers stop the transmission of their HIV to their babies. Visit www.unicef.org.nz/HIV-Childrens-Appeal

Categories: HIV/AIDS | 1 Comment

Darren Zhang: Rights of children in urban poverty must be realised

By Ella, Published: April 5, 2012
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All children growing in towns and cities must have their full rights equally realised to enable each and every child to grow and thrive to the fullest of their potential. With almost half of the world’s population living in urban centres, social disparities are a barrier from urbanisation being an opportunity to realise the rights of the most vulnerable and deprived children.

For children growing up in socio-economically deprived communities, access to decent and safe housing, infrastructure such as education and health care are inadequate or lacking which aggregate urban data tends to hide.

This is especially the case for over a billion people worldwide who live in slums as their settlements often lack access to water, sanitation, secured tenure, durability and living space. These overcrowded and unsanitary conditions are the breeding ground for mass outbreaks of diseases and epidemics.

These challenges are worse for many children who were not registered at birth and therefore legally do not exist, excluding them from receiving vital services and opportunities and increasing the likelihood of exploitation, a clear breach of Article 7 of the Convention of the Right of the Child that states all children “shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have… the right to acquire a nationality”.

Thus it is crucial that urban children living in poverty are given their basic and fundamental rights as humans and a child born in one part of a city should be provided with no less an opportunity to develop than one born in another.

The increasing urbanisation of populations is the biggest opportunity yet to reach out to those most in need and it is vital governments, in both developed and developing countries take advantage of this to ensure all children are able to become members of society in their greatest capacity.

 

Categories: Uncategorized, Youth Ambassadors | Leave a comment