Bringing hope to South Sudan
MAF fly a delivery of Plumpy Sup to Uror County, where almost 40,000 women
and children are suffering from moderate to severe malnutrition.
It’s Wednesday morning at Juba airport in South Sudan and the weight limit on the MAF Cessna Caravan is maxed-out with only one ‘passenger’. White and orange boxes are filled with small packets of nutritional gold.
The miracle of Plumpy Sup
It’s called Plumpy Sup, one of a few variations of a peanut-based supplement that has worked miracles on malnourished babies and small children.
Tearfund ran out of it in Uror County back in January and had been trying to get more there, with financial and political issues making that desire difficult. Finally, with the intense rainy season looming, the time had come that they could book MAF to fly two planeloads into Motot, a remote village about one-and-a-half hours north of Juba.
Severe famine
About one-third of the county’s children are malnourished and the number has increased to emergency levels due to the December conflict.
The UN and other international organisations are predicting a severe famine.
“Tearfund is the only nutrition provider in the county,” Claudia Puschner, the organisation’s South Sudan programme officer, explains.
“In our current response we are targeting 38,429 pregnant and lactating women and children under five suffering from moderate or severe malnutrition.
“The supplies we transport are mainly Plumpy Sup and therapeutic feeding supplies. These programmes are possible due to the generous support of MAF.”
The privilege of bringing hope
The Pulchoul feeding centre is filled with women and children. Workers measure tiny arms and write on crumpled, dirt-smeared health cards, indicating how many food packets each baby will receive for the week.
Chul Malual’s child, Muot, has improved dramatically in the month that she has been bringing him to the centre. He was two-years-old when she first brought him in, weighing 6.7kgs. One month later, he is up to 9.3kgs and eating the Plumpy Nut packets without help.
What a privilege to bring this hope to those in desperate need.