RIP Nassirou

I met two year old Nassirou the day before he died. He was being treated in one of our clinics for severely malnourished children. The amazing Dr Morou was very worried about him but still had hope he would fight back and survive – the team in the clinic were doing everything in their power to save his life. Sadly by the time I returned to the clinic the next day to see how he was doing he had passed away.

Nassirou’s father allowed me to attend the funeral that took place the same day. He said, ‘this is not just about my child, this is about all of Niger’s children. Death isn’t a new thing for us, sometimes it’s parents, sometimes it’s children. All we can ask for is the blessing of God.’

Nassirou’s death was one of the last tragic things I witnessed in Niger before I left at the end of my two month deployment as communications officer. Sadly, the crisis in Niger is still deteriorating – and it’s children like Nassirou and his distraught parents who are suffering.

A new nutrition survey shows that severe malnutrition rates have increased 42% since this time last year and in one area of Niger the under five death rate has exceeded the emergency threshold.

Why then does the world still not care?

Join our campaign to get Niger in the press by sending an email to your local newspaper editor and join our twitter campaign to get people talking about Niger.