Deba Souko held a simple prayer for her grandson Aliou: that he would grow up healthy and strong enough to care for her one day.
Recently, however, she worried it would take a miracle.
The miracle was you.
Deba lives in a close-knit family compound of mud houses in the Ségou Region of Mali, alongside Aliou, her four sons, daughter and daughter-in-law. Four years ago, she lost her husband to a long illness, and since then, she has been a pillar of support for her family. While his mother works as a hired farm worker in nearby fields, Deba cares for Aliou. Previously she spent a large portion of the day cooking for her family but as food stores diminish, she is doing it less and less.
Soaring prices, extreme weather and brutal hunger
She and her family have farmed their small plot in Mali for generations, but extreme weather shifts — including long droughts followed by flooding — and rising prices have made it increasingly difficult to produce enough food.
“These times are difficult,” Deba says. “Eating three times a day is not a certainty.”
Her daughter-in-law, Aliou’s mother, became so malnourished, she stopped producing milk, depriving her son of essential vitamins and nutrients. As a result, Aliou too became malnourished. He couldn’t even walk.
Community child health volunteers stopped by the home on a routine screening visit. When they measured his arm with a color-coded tape meant to diagnosis malnourishment, Aliou’s arm was red — the most severe level.
As miracles often go, the timing was divine.
Your kindness arrived right on time — in the form of a fertilizer and millet kit. The millet, protein-rich starch, provided immediate sustenance for the hungry family. With two sacks of fertilizer ready for the next growing season, Deba is filled with hope for a bountiful harvest, alleviating her worries about where the next meal will come from.
Because of you, Deba breathes a sigh of relief for today, and one for tomorrow too.
“After your evening meal, it’s hard to get sleep worrying until the morning: Will I find breakfast for the children the next day or not?” she says. “But if, thanks be to God, you do have millet in your house that you can use every morning, there is nothing more reassuring than this. We thank God for those who have provided us with the kit.”
With regular access to healthy food, Aliou is now on a steady, upward track. The rice porridge from the kit has become a staple of his diet and he is eating very well.
Aliou is not the only one growing — so are Deba’s dreams. Now that she can feed her family and is healthy enough to work again, she hopes Aliou, a strong walking toddler, can attend school and achieve great things.
Your compassion is turning Deba’s dreams into reality. Thank you for being the miracle.
