The child in the arms of her father was skin and bones. Her face was hollowed out, her skin shrunken, in a state of dehydration, whimpering in pain and agony. He asked for help, his daughter had been ill with stomach problem, diarrhea for days, she has had this before, but this was the worst it had ever been.
There are not facilities for medical care like we are used to and take for granted here in the States. There are no emergency rooms in slum and rural areas.. sometimes there are mud huts where desperate people come who have no money, no hope.
The girl’s name was Elizabeth and she was five years old. Her parents lived in the slum of Kibera that houses nearly a million desperate people existing on next to nothing, lacking the very basics of life such as water, food and proper shelter, but this slum was home for Elizabeth and others like her. She was moaning in pain and there was nothing for her father to do.. it was too late, another child became a statistic for the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Each year over 800,000 children like Elizabeth die needlessly in Africa, they die before their time, die of something preventable - that could and can be prevented with a simple antidote such as soap and water, the miracle is not some modern medicine, but the washing of hands, sadly, too late for Elizabeth whose lifeless body laid upon the roughhewn table. Her father cried, why was Elizabeth born in a part of the world where things that we take for granted, like clean water, soap, food, medicine, health care are just not there??
It is estimated that children in this part of the world have at least five bouts of diarrhea per year most often accompanied by under-nutrition and childhood diseases like measles. It is the leading cause of death in children in Africa and all is needed is water and soap a few times a day before eating. 20% of Africa’s children die before the age of six from diarrhea, dehydration, malaria, measles, pneumonia, etc, things that in the west would be a simple thing to deal with.
There are not facilities for medical care like we are used to and take for granted here in the States. There are no emergency rooms in slum and rural areas.. sometimes there are mud huts where desperate people come who have no money, no hope.
The girl’s name was Elizabeth and she was five years old. Her parents lived in the slum of Kibera that houses nearly a million desperate people existing on next to nothing, lacking the very basics of life such as water, food and proper shelter, but this slum was home for Elizabeth and others like her. She was moaning in pain and there was nothing for her father to do.. it was too late, another child became a statistic for the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Each year over 800,000 children like Elizabeth die needlessly in Africa, they die before their time, die of something preventable - that could and can be prevented with a simple antidote such as soap and water, the miracle is not some modern medicine, but the washing of hands, sadly, too late for Elizabeth whose lifeless body laid upon the roughhewn table. Her father cried, why was Elizabeth born in a part of the world where things that we take for granted, like clean water, soap, food, medicine, health care are just not there??
It is estimated that children in this part of the world have at least five bouts of diarrhea per year most often accompanied by under-nutrition and childhood diseases like measles. It is the leading cause of death in children in Africa and all is needed is water and soap a few times a day before eating. 20% of Africa’s children die before the age of six from diarrhea, dehydration, malaria, measles, pneumonia, etc, things that in the west would be a simple thing to deal with.
In Kampala 60% of slum dwellers do not have access to pit latrines or toilets and the result is plastic bags being thrown onto roofs to waste away, children simply go anywhere, disease and childhood illnesses abound.
Water like in most slums in Africa costs money and is carried away in plastic jerry cans where mold and mildew can easily grow in. Washing of hands becomes costly, since water costs money.
The result is never ending illnesses and death in children that could be avoided through the inexpensive use of soap and water.
Sources: New Vision Online
Sources: New Vision Online
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