“My baby does not look like other babies, maybe she was bewitched!” explained Zirya, mother of a very thin baby Faridha. Phionah, the FARM STEW trainer working in Zirya’s community quickly recognized the patches of reddish/brown hair and the rashes developing on the baby’s skin. One year old Faridha was not bewitched, she was suffering from extreme malnutrition! The trainer began to ask questions about how Zirya was feeding Faridha and strongly recommended her to bring her daughter to a malnutrition ward in the district hospital or nearby clinic. 

Zirya refused, as many parents like her do because they know they don’t have the money to pay for the treatments, but she accepted Phionah’s meal instructions. 

When the FARM STEW trainers returned next week they were expecting the worst, but to their surprise Faridha had improved quite a bit! The changes in her diet and increased attention from her mom helped her to put on weight that caused her to shift from Severe to Moderately Malnourished, according to the Mid Upper Arm Circumference measurement, a tool used to objectively measure malnutrition. In just one week the FARM STEW recipe for abundant life brought a young girl from the edge of death to full recovery! You have been part of bringing the recipe to save Faridha!