“I thank all the donors for their generosity in helping my daughter,” shares Ventarious’s mother, a native of Uganda. “May God bless them.”
Three-year-old Ventarious is not yet in school, but her parents hope to send her to nursery school next year if they have the school fees. When she was healthy, Ventarious liked playing with her three siblings, especially running and skipping rope made from vines. She also enjoyed helping her mother do chores, such as fetching water and firewood.
These days, however, Ventarious is rarely able to do these activities. She has severe malnutrition. Her compromised immune system has led to a constant cough, and she has developed edema—an uncomfortable swelling of the extremities that results from a lack of salt- and water-regulating nutrients. If her malnutrition is not reversed soon, Ventarious risks undergoing permanent cognitive and physical damage.
Ventarious’s parents, Annet and Jackson, are small farmers and farm laborers. They cannot afford medical care to address their daughter’s malnutrition. But for $316, we can help.
Beginning on March 27, Ventarious will be admitted to a hospital to undergo a ten-day structured nutritional program. Lab tests, vitamins, and milk will bring Ventarious back to a stable weight. While she is in the hospital, her mother will also be taught to make nutritious meals from affordable local foods so that Ventarious does not become malnourished again.
