As violence erupted in Myanmar in August 2017, Jaheda and her family were among 700,000 Rohingya refugees to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh. Jaheda was heavily pregnant and gave birth to Minara, now 19 months, as they escaped the conflict.
With no food for herself, Jaheda struggled to breastfeed her baby. “When I arrived in Bangladesh, she was about to die,” recalled Jaheda. “People were telling me, ‘your daughter will not live’. I thought, ‘Oh my god, am I going to lose my baby?’”
Jaheda took Minara to a World Vision nutrition centre in the camp at Cox’s Bazar where her family found refuge. Minara was given Plumpy’Sup, a ready-to-use high energy food specially designed to treat acute malnutrition. After 10 visits over five months, Minara began to thrive. She was happy, healthy and playful.
“She had moderate acute malnutrition. Now she’s cured,” says Mainuddin a World Vision nutrition team leader.