Although she isn’t able to read or write, Wilma wanted to learn how to take better care of her son. To do this, she walked for four hours with John Jacob tied to her back every time she visited the nutrition centre.
There, World Vision nutrition staff gave Wilma packs of nutrient and energy-rich paste called ready to use therapeutic food (RUTF for short). The staff showed Wilma how to feed the packs to John Jacob three times a day and offered Wilma other tips on how to keep her son healthy.
Additionally, Wilma was provided packs of corn soya blend - another nutrient-rich food that makes porridge for the family and helps them recover.
Over the course of three months, John Jacob continued to show signs of improvement each time he and Wilma visited the nutrition centre. Sometimes, it would just be a gram or two of weight that the boy would gain. But he started to develop beyond just gaining weight.
John Jacob started pointing at things, he was able to sit up on his own and he began smiling at the other babies who were waiting to be weighed and measured too.
The morning he was declared as recovered, when we celebrated at the clinic, John Jacob crawled around the and showed us how he could stand on his own for a few seconds, grinning widely.