In Ethiopia’s Afar region, a simple chair signifies hope for many

This is where hope sits.

How many moms clutching how many babies have found their way to this chair. 

Perched in a desolate outpost in northeastern Ethiopia, it’s the only option for many children facing severe malnutrition in this region. 

Last month I visited this centre. I sat on the floor next to this chair for some time talking to the women arriving.  Each had a different story but common thread: an inordinate amount of strength and dedication to their children. 

The women who sat in this chair had no options remaining. Many traveled in bare feet or barely sandals for days to get help for their children who were wasting – a term describing a child who is too thin for their height and not gaining weight; usually a result of severe lack of food, or illness, or both. 

One 12-year-old girl made the trip solo. Her feet didn’t yet touch the ground as she perched on this chair.  She protectively clutched her 13-month-old brother who was swollen from  malnutrition. He was in desperate need of treatment from the UNICEF-supported clinic in a battle which was so clearly and cruelly stacked against him.

Behind me, in the corner of this small centre were a few boxes of Plumpy ‘Nut.   This is the closest thing to a miracle product I’ve ever seen in my life. These therapeutic food packages which it in your hand, require no refrigeration or clean water to prepare, and no medical training to administer are packed with nutrients and essential vitamins. 

By taking a few of these food packages a day, a severely malnourished child will see their condition transformed in as short as 4-6 weeks. Moving from a listless child to one of restored strength and health.

Recent aid cuts have made Plumpy’Nut and other critical supplies that tackle severe malnutrition harder to stock. The punishing reality of rationing had begun in the centre we visited. 

But new boxes were on their way, including many provided by Canadians. This includes The Slaight Family Foundation which, through its generous contribution to UNICEF Canada, is providing more than 1.3 million of these therapeutic food packages across Ethiopia. They’re arriving in centres including the one we visited, alongside critical malnutrition screening and treatment for hundreds of thousands of children in drought-and conflict-affected parts of Ethiopia.

The Canadian government has also stepped up with a multi-million dollar commitment to fund critical nutrition gaps standing in front of the most vulnerable children in the world.  Each one of our monthly UNICEF donors, too, is helping get Plumpy’Nut and other life-saving supplies to children in desperate need around the world.

Hope is not an abstract idea.  It doesn’t arrive by chance and sometimes it’s something you can deliver; including to those in this chair.

I’m so grateful to all the people that fuel hope for children and their families through UNICEF. It’s this community that makes us the world’s most powerful force for children.