Vulnerable babies in North-western Ethiopia

Little baby Abel's mother held her little new born baby boy with tears in her eyes. She was sick and knew she had not long to live. She worried about his future, she would have loved to see him grow, starting to walk, his first words....but it was not to be. After 30 days she peacefully passed away. Fortunately the family stepped in and his aunt to over the care of little Abel. As the family grieved for the death of Abel's beloved mother, they started to realize that loving on this little baby was not difficult but feeding the baby was a different story. They soon found out that baby formula was not something they could afford. The aunt started to look around for help from government and non-government organizations and was finally referred to Abraham's Oasis. We assessed the needs and started to assist the family right away to prevent the baby reaching the state of severe malnutrition. Due to the quick assistance the aunt is now able to love and care for Abel. The team of Abraham's Oasis checks on the family regularly, advises them and provides them with monthly baby formula supply. Baby Abel and his family are doing well and we will follow-them till he reaches one year of age.

We thank you for much for your generous support which enables us to provide life-saving interventions for babies in need.

Abraham's Oasis is always trying hard to prevent abandonment of babies and one effective method is to assist families to keep the babies and work hard to solve the problems which could lead to abandonment.

One risk factor is if there is more than one baby. Sometimes the mother is not able to produce enough breastmill due to sickness or other problems. The cost of baby formula is also prohibitive so the family panics and often chose to abandon these babies or favor one over the other.

Little 5 day old twin babies, Arsema and Abel, were referred to us as the mother had been admitted to hospital due to some medical problems and she panicked when she realized she was unable to feed her babies.

We assisted her with baby formula and clothes, gave her training on how to prepare the milk and keep the bottles as well as the babies clean. We did regular follow-up to make sure the milk was used appropriately and the babies were growing well.

What a joy to see these little ones develop and bringing joy instead of sorrow to their family.

Thank you for life saving assistance!