When Susan first connected with TF’s local partner in Uganda, CoRSU Hospital, she was distraught over her son’s condition. At 11 months of age, Marvin weighed just 5.5lb. His cleft made breastfeeding very difficult.

“I am worried. I have never seen anyone with this condition. Will my child grow to become like other people?” Susan asked her social worker.

As labourers in one of the district farms near the local hospital, Susan and her husband work hard to earn just enough to rent the small room in which they raise their young family. Affording medical care and travel expenses for their newborn would be too heavy a burden to bear on their own.

Thankfully, with the full support of their Comprehensive Cleft Care team, Marvin’s medical care and transportation costs to the hospital were provided free of charge.

With the assistance of CoRSU’s nutritionists, Susan quickly learned crucial feeding techniques to help her son. Even still, Marvin struggled with undernourishment. The social work and nutrition teams held a joint assessment to get to the bottom of Marvin’s situation.

“We found that breast milk was not enough, and the parents could not afford the supplementary nutrition, such as the high protein milk,” noted Marvin’s nutritionist.