An interesting bug chilling on the window screen. In another life I was an entymologist.

Jeanne chopping up a coconut, given to me by my NGO, with a machete. The kdis in the concession had a lot of fun watching this.

Christmas party in Game. Louise is the one in the middle and I work most closely with her in village. Meg is the volunteer who I replaced (she took a job with Population Services International doing HIV/AIDS work in Cotonou) and she is still in close contact with AFAP.

Handing out bags of beans to celebrate Christmas with original AFAP board and groupement members.

People affiliated with AFAP's headquarters in Game.

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The next two pictures were taken at the nutritional recuperation center at Game.

They are pictures of a four year old boy with extreme marasmus, a type of malnutrition in which the body does not receive enough calories (as opposed to kwashiorkor, in which the body receives calories but not enough variety, as in a diet consisting only of rice or tortillas). The boy in the pictures is 4 years old and weighs about 6 kilos (13 lbs). He is staying at the center and being recuperated with soy based meals (for protein) and enriched with powdered moringa leaves (for calcium and vitamins). He is eating a variety of foods, including eggs and vegetables with carbohydrates, starting slowly until his body adjusts to it. He will stay at the center until he is at a healthy weight, but currently he is in very fragile condition.

Please be aware the the photos are graphic.

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These are "before" pictures I took while visiting the center. He is the first case of this severity that I have seen. We invite children to the center when a mother brings them to a monthly baby weighing and we find that they are in the "red zone," meaning that based on their weight-for-age ratio, death is imminent. Usually, she has not brought the child to be weighed for quite some time. If a child is in the yellow zone, or stage 2 malnutrition, we take proactive steps and hold cooking demonstrations to show her how to enrich the food.

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After a child is sent home from the nutritional recuperation center, APAF follows up by checking in on the family to ensure the child has not lost the regained weight. Because poverty and lack of access to resources is often a large part of the cause in the first place, many children relapse back into stage 2 or 3 malnutrition after returning home.

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So, now some happier things. Here is the view from outside the center.
Here is my host sister Liliane, at home in Porto-Novo with her two week old baby, Maurice!!! I took occasion of my visit to share with her the critical important of exclusive breastfeeding. : )
The orphans in Game eating the Christmas cookies I made them. The cookies were ugly but no one complained. Or that the sugar cookies had only half the sugar called for. The kids were grateful for some treats!!
Another beautiful critter resting on the sunny wall of my home. This moth was travelling in a group of three.

Last year, for the christmas fete at the orphanage, the NGO lacked a Santa mask. They had the outfit, but no face. So, someone ran out quikly to find one and this is what they came up with. Yeah. This is the face that gave Christmas presents to orphans last year. In the spirit of Freddie Krueger, Dracula, and the Thing . . Merry Christmas.