Children in Djibouti's slums are especially prone to suffering. The Federal Foreign Office is providing roughly 54,000 euro to support a project led by the Johanniter Emergency Service (Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe), which aims to provide food to malnourished children.
For many children in Djibouti, hunger is more serious than just having an empty stomach - it is often a matter of life and death. Nearly every fifth child between the ages of one and four in Djibouti is malnourished. In the slums Arhiba and Balbala child mortality due to malnutrition is a gruesome problem.
The situation is made even more difficult by a cholera epidemic, widespread diarrhoeal disease, an acute drought and the resulting sky rocketing food prices.
Arhiba, a slum on the outskirts of the capital Djibouti, has roughly 20,000 inhabitants. Balbala, another of the capital's slums, continues to grow and now includes an even poorer area called "PK-12". Approximately 200,000 people live in Balbala, with refugees from Somalia making up around 25%. In Balbala one in three children is severely malnourished and there is a constant stream of refugees from neighbouring Somalia.
The Johanniter are committed to fighting malnutrition and child mortality in both slums. In addition to food items such as powdered milk, sugar, cooking oil and legumes, they also deliver feeding tubes and bedding for their young patients.
The aid organization supports five nutrition centres in Balbala. These centres are affiliated with both the local health clinics and the hospital, and specialize in care for children under the age of five.
Relations between Germany and Djibouti
How does the aid process work?
The little ones are treated with therapeutic nutritional supplements for a time period ranging from 20 days up to 16 weeks depending on the severity of their malnutrition. They are brought to the slums' nutrition centres for that purpose.
The nutrition centre in Arhiba serves not only Djiboutian mothers and their malnourished children, but also Ethiopian refugees and their children who come to take advantage of the food supplements offered.
As of 31 July 2008 roughly 1,500 malnourished children had been treated with nutritional supplements in the six nutrition centres.
Additional Services
To improve their often limited motor skills, the young patients are given special toys.
Furthermore, family members are educated on health and nutrition topics. This is important for closing the information gap that is key for survival: only if they are properly informed can parents recognize the signs of malnutrition in their child.