Hi Marie,

My concern came from the breaches of acceptable practice in infant and young
child feeding in emergencies that were apparent  in the blog and youtube
video, the self satisfied way in which the story is presented and the
seeming acceptance of a tragic outcome as something wonderful (yes, the baby
is alive but everything else is just tragic). Maternal rejection can be
grounds for supporting artificial feeding in an emergency situation (as you
describe) but once an organisation takes on the responsibility of doing so
they are also responsible for not ensuring not just that the carer has
enough infant formula and clean water (enough to wash and clean implements
as well as reconstituting the formula- that's about 24L a day), education on
how to use the formula (including NOT using a bottle to feed with), AND
adequate medical supervision.  Certainly the latter was not provided, I
don't know about the others but since there was no mention of fuel, feeding
implements etc I wonder whether they were also lacking?  The
responsibilities of organisations supporting artificial feeding is outlined
in the Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in
Emergencies. It is ironic that the mother was blamed completely for the fact
that an infant was in such a poor nutritional state- if things were not
going well it should have been picked up well before acute malnutrition
occurred. It should be recognised that such malnutrition occurs frequently
in resource poor settings when an infant is artificially fed even when the
carers of an infant are using infant formula appropriately. It is also
extremely concerning that the mother of this baby had her image published in
this way, accompanied by extremely negative descriptions of herself and her
actions- this is very unethical and makes me question what else was poorly
managed in this situation. This story is very likely in breach of the Red
Cross Code of Conduct on the representation of aid recipients.

By some estimates, 10% of Haitian children live in orphanages an important
factor in this situation is the large number of institutions set up by
individuals and small organisations, the mere existence of which leads to
abandonment. The irony is that while the children may be better fed and
clothed in such places their emotional care is inadequate...the
repercussions are significant.  There are good reasons why orphanages
disappeared from developed countries decades ago, even the very best harm
children. 

Unfortunately, both areas- infant feeding and child protection- are commonly
poorly managed in emergency situations. Every emergency there are calls for
donations of infant formula and for people to set up orphanages or to adopt
children via intercountry adoption. NGOs who know what they are doing have
an uphill battle to prevent children and their families being harmed by
those seeking to do good but without the expertise to know what doing good
looks like.

Karleen Gribble

Australia

 

 

From: Maria Whittaker [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Wednesday, 12 January 2011 8:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Self congratulatory dogooders doing harm in Haiti

 

Hi there,

 

Thank you so much for showing much concern for the children of Haiti. I
(Maria) totally understand your concern about children formula instead of
encouraging the mother to breastfeed. I am a mother myself. I am a firm
believer in breastfeeding and I breastfed all of my children until they
themselves weaned themselves. There are times, however, that this is not a
possible solution. In Haiti child slavery is a huge problem. We have reason
to believe that Mackenson's mom is or was a child slave. She didn't know who
Mackenson's dad is. She conceived from a man who used her for sex and then
left her. She also was unaware that she was HIV positive. The first time she
heard of it was when Mackenson was tested at the clinic. This was not the
first time she had a child either. Mackenson is her third child. The first
one she abandoned. The second one died from malnutrition because she did not
want to breastfeed him nor cared about him. She also didn't know who the
father was. 

 

When you begin to truly look into the story you notice more than a mom who
doesn't want to breastfeed out of ignorance or pride. This is a woman filled
with pain because of her own pain and unfortunately is only transferring her
pain to her child by rejecting him and letting him to die. As a woman I can
understand why she couldn't connect with her child.

 

We are not "self congratulatory dogooders" as you call us. We are only doing
what we believe God is calling us to do and in the process reaching out to
those who are helpless. Today, Mackenson is thriving. Not because his mom
cared, but because others did. And in our hearts we are thankful to God for
sparing him and pray that God will use him in the future to reach out to
others like him. God bless.


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