WEST POKOT COUNTY, KENYA

Inseparable Sisters Find a New Life in Kenya

Meet Chepoisho and Chepengat: sisters who traveled far to reach their Aunt Jackline in West Pokot County, Kenya, and were in need of help when they arrived.

Chepengat was fourteen months old...

when she arrived in Kiwawa village in northwestern Kenya. She and her five-year-old sister, Chepoisho, had been living under bad neglect from their parents near the Ugandan border.

When the two sisters showed up on their Aunt Jackline’s doorstep, she almost cried. “When Chepengat was brought to me she was very weak, she didn’t even have strength to walk.” recalled Jackline, “I was devastated when I saw this child."

The sisters were inseparable, and Chepoisho accompanied her sister and Aunt to the health dispensary, where little Chepengat was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition.

The nurse performs a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) test on Chepengat, while her sister, Chepoisho, comforts her.

Recovery seemed unlikely...

without enough food at home. Untreated, this condition can cause delayed or stunted growth and if left to worsen, it could become life-threatening. But Chepengat did not get this far only to have a second chance at a new life in Kenya denied.

she began receiving plumpy'nut...

from the health dispensary, supplied by Action Against Hunger, and began the recovery process. “I’ve seen great progress, at times she even has more strength to walk.” Jackline remarked.

Plumpy'Nut is an RUTF (Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Food) used to treat malnourished children. It’s a peanut paste packed with vitamins and minerals, referred to as a “miracle food.” For every purchase you make from This Saves Lives, we send food aid to kids who need it most. 

Chepengat in the health dispensary with a packet of Plumpy'Nut

Chepengat may still be in recovery...

but her life and her health are not at risk anymore. The treatment with Plumpy’Nut offered by the Action Against Hunger supported health dispensary will make sure that Chepengat steadily gains weight until she is no longer a malnourished child.

Images by Peter Caton for Action Against Hunger