Sometimes you try your hardest to make a change in a child's life and are unsuccessful - but when you are successful that is definitely worth celebrating and sharing with the world! 

Many of you may remember Everson, a 13 year old child who was brought to us last year suffering with extreme malnutrition, neglect, and a variety of other health issues. His story stuck with the staff at Tiny Tim & Friends due to the fact that when he arrived at our Clinic many of our staff prepared themselves for the worst. We worked hard with our partners at Our Ladies Hospice, to provide him emergency palliative care,  found him a stable safe home at MacDonalds Farm, and have continued to treat him over the past 18 months to make sure he can lead a healthy, productive life. 
​​

Last week our social work team went to visit him at the Farm, to see how he was doing, and whilst he was showing them his vegetable garden he has been cultivating he said he would like to go back to Our Ladies Hospice, to thank the staff who helped him to recover over a year ago.

This week we went with Everson back to Our Ladies Hospice for an incredibly emotional and rewarding visit. None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the hard work and dedication of the staff at Our Ladies Hospice; the nurturing environment and safe home he has at MacDonalds Farm; and  all of the TTF donors and supporters who enabled us  to provide 4 months of intensive palliative care and medical treatment at the TTF Clinic. 

So we want to share with you in this celebration and as a picture can say a thousand words - here are just some from our day: 

Thank you to everyone who made this transformation possible - we are eternally grateful for your support and donations - without working in partnership none of this would have been possible!

​THANK YOU! 

Joyce is a new patient at TTF. She is HIV+, weighs only 12kgs (26lbs), has TB and is suffering from an all over body rash. Her symptoms and illnesses are not uncommon for a malnourished HIV+ child. Joyce currently sits below the 5th percentile on the BMI index and her health is a great concern – her CD4 count is 261 - just above a critical level.

Joyce's family situation is complex, her mother has alcohol abuse issues, and upon visiting her family home we discovered here grandmother, Betty, was seriously ill with TB - weighing only 28kgs (61lbs). Due to malnutrition Joyce is always sick and unable to go to school. Her mother never went to school and so is unable to secure regular employment, meaning food is scarce. They are stuck in a cycle of poverty. 

Joyce needs significant medical and social support in order to help her to get healthy and lead a positive life. Tiny Tim & Friends is currently supporting her in the following ways:

• Providing nutritional support to help her gain weight, improve her general health and boost her immune system
• Providing medical assistance through the TTF Clinic to cure her other ilnesses
• Giving her mother adherence counselling and disclosure support so she can help tell Joyce about her HIV status and help Joyce to understand the importance of taking her medication on time
• Helping her Grandmother (who weighed only 28kgs (61lbs) when we met her) to recover from TB and stop passing this to Joyce through emergency palliative care. 
  ​

​Joyce’s story is sadly not that unusual for the children we see at the Tiny Tim & Friends Clinic. Joyce’s mother, Miriam,  got pregnant when she was still a teenager and unfortunately, as she was not on Anti-Retroviral treatment passed HIV onto her newborn daughter.  Miriam’s siblings have passed away leaving her and her younger brother to care for their children and their own Mother, who as mentioned is also incredibly sick.

"Without improving nutrition, the world will fail to achieve many of the Sustainable Development Goals. There is an urgent moral and practical imperative for the world to make ambitious, measurable, and timebound commitments to equitably improve nutrition. In monitoring these commitments, the Global Nutrition Report will help us hold ourselves accountable. Lives depend on it."
Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF

Yesterday saw the launch of the Global Nutrition Report 2015, stating that good nutrition provides a foundation for human development and the scaffolding needed for people to fulfill their full potential. Good nutrition is an essential driver to human development. Without good nutrition human beings cannot fulfill their full potential. 

Many of you will remember, Evison, the young boy who came to TTF last year completely malnourished with a range of ilnesses - you will also remember the fantastic transformation in his health after just 5 months with us. To ensure that we can support even more children like Evison we have teamed up with CARINGCROWD℠, a new crowdfunding platform seeking to address global health inequalities and powered by Johnson & Johnson. 

www.caringcrowd.org/nourish-25-hiv-children-and-families

We are aiming to raise $6,500 in just 30 days to support 25 of the most vulnerable, malnourished children and families at the TTF clinic. In order to do so need as many of our supporters as possible  to pledge money to our cause and/ or share with your networks. If we do not reach our target within the allocated time we dont get a penny - therefore we are looking for project advocates who can help achieve our goal. So how can you support us?