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Dear John,

Through our ‘Mama en Pikin Welbodi Project’ (meaning ‘Mother and child health project’ in Krio) we worked with communities to improve the health and nutrition of families in rural Sierra Leone.

Below, we hear from a grandmother who is the sole carer for her young granddaughter. Martha, a primary schoolteacher and widowed mother of three, lives in a village in northern Sierra Leone with her granddaughter, Wilhemina.

Martha tells us: “My son died when Wilhemina’s mother was three months pregnant and, as Wilhemina’s mother suffers from severe epilepsy, she is unable to care for her.”

Martha has struggled to look after her granddaughter, explaining: “I have been responsible for feeding and caring for my granddaughter with no support from her mother’s family. I am also currently supporting my son who is studying at college out of town.”

Despite being employed as a schoolteacher, Martha has found it hard to make ends meet: “A teacher’s salary is too low. I engage in petty trading, selling pepper, salt and peanuts, in order to make extra money.”

When Wilhemina became unwell, Martha took her to the nearest health centre where staff diagnosed her as malnourished.

Health Poverty Action has been working with health centres in the region where Martha lives, ensuring that staff are trained and equipped to reach and support families’ nutrition and health.

Martha tells us: “The nurses were able to advise me and provided us with ‘Plumpy Nut’ nutrition supplements and fortified milk, which has helped my granddaughter’s health to improve”

She continues: “Health Poverty Action has also assisted me with a breeding pair of chickens and materials to establish a vegetable garden, where I am now growing beans and peanuts.”

Martha is grateful for the support that she and her granddaughter have received and has high hopes for the future: “Thank you brothers and sisters for your support, it’s been very important to us. My granddaughter is doing much better now. When she grows up, I want her to become the President of Sierra Leone – the greatest!”

We have supported thousands of families to improve their health and nutrition through this project. You can read more about the work we’ve done with communities in Sierra Leone over recent years here [[link removed]].

Once again, on behalf of all the communities we work with, thank you for your contributions.

Yours sincerely,

Siaffa Bunduka

Supporter Engagement Manager

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Health Poverty Action is a registered charity, number 290535.

Our postal address is Health Poverty Action, Kemp House, 152 – 160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX.

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