A Child's Grey Hair - Extreme Malnutrition Still Exists: Boaze's story

Democratic Republic of Congo

The second largest country of Africa, full of paradoxes. On one hand, it is rich in natural resources (including cobalt, copper, coltan, crude oil, diamonds, gold); on the other hand, its inhabitants are among the poorest in the world. For decades, the DRC has been suffering from prolonged conflicts that have led to one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world.

Overview:
  • 77% of the population live in extreme poverty for less than $1.90 a day
  • 16% of the country’s population, i.e. over 13 million people, require immediate humanitarian assistance
  • 13,6 million people are deprived of access to safe water sources and proper sanitary and hygienic facilities
  • numerous outbreaks of deadly diseases, including measles, malaria, cholera and Ebola
  • about 10% of all malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa occurred here
Our hospital carries over

27 000

medical procedures per year
We treat about

7000

malaria patients every year
Our midwives delivered about

953

babies in 2023

11.09.2023

“This is a much older person in this picture.”
“And what, his hair colour just changed from grey to black?”
“Photoshopped or colours redone by artificial intelligence, a child’s hair doesn’t look like that.”

Boaze from Ntamugenga hasn’t eaten for days and his hairstyle is the last thing on his mind. In general, we would like him to think about typically childish things – when to play a prank on his mum, whether there are any toys in this hospital, or whether the other children will skip rope with him.

The boy looks around the hospital room with vigilant eyes, and his eyes light up brighter every time he sees a plate. Will the next one be for him? For a long time to come, he will carry this anxiety inside him that there won’t be enough food. But not only will Boaze leave today full, but his mum will also get a solid food parcel for the days ahead.

When we show a baby like this, there are often questions in the comments that display disbelief. Because how can this be – a child with grey hair?

We don’t see this in Poland anymore, but this is what extreme malnutrition looks like. Older generations may remember grey or yellowish hair on children who were sent to concentration camps. Here we are in 2023 and the same problems, albeit caused in a different way. It is unbelievable that such an easily treatable disease as famine continues to take a deadly toll.

When the hair grows healthy, we know we are winning the battle. We know that with you, Boaze will win it too. Did you know that you can donate a bouffant of healthy curls to him today through GoodWorks 24/7? For every therapeutic meal purchased, 100% of the amount donated goes to the nutrition centre. With these funds, we buy the most necessary products and prepare several dozen meals and rations on site every week. You don’t have to wait long for the results – you can watch them every month on our website ? .

So, will you help??

Urgent Help Needed

Save the Pharmacy for the Poorest in Togo

This amount will allow for equipping pharmacy shelves for the first half of the year. Ania and Mateusz will take care of this, and they will fly to Togo in February and fill the shelves with the most essential antibiotics, antimalarial drugs, and pain relievers. The Saoudé Pharmacy has people to save. It cannot succeed without your support.

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We already have :
3,423 EUR
We need:
6,667 EUR