Written by: Sarah Bowling
I was blasted by hot air when I walked through the door of my house after returning from vacation. Since it was August, I wasn’t excited to learn that the AC had malfunctioned. There was no power to the thermostat, but there also didn’t seem to be any obvious problem with the AC itself.
Later the next day, the repairman informed me that my AC was off because of a “glitch” in the system. He flipped the breakers on and off a few times, everything rebooted, and thankfully, we were back in business.
I don’t think glitches are all that uncommon, particularly in our first-world living. We have glitches in our computers, the electrical systems in our cars, Wi-Fi routers, sprinkler systems, coffee makers, etc. Generally, we work through these hassles and get on with our lives.
In the countries where Saving Moses works, however, glitches can be much more serious.
A few years ago, there was a “glitch” in the supply chain for our therapeutic milk in one of the countries where we work. Policy changes prevented the milk from being brought into the country. When we couldn’t import it, there was no milk to distribute to our malnutrition clinics. And when there’s no therapeutic milk at our clinics, babies and toddlers suffering from severe acute malnutrition don’t have the essential nutrition they need to survive and recover.
Imagine telling a mom whose baby or toddler is wasting away that there’s a supply-chain glitch and we don’t have the therapeutic milk her little one needs to survive.
Maybe she has been here before. She brought her toddler’s older sister to this same malnutrition clinic, and she not only survived but is now thriving as a healthy 9-year-old. So, this mom comes back with hope, only to discover that this time, the resource her child desperately needs isn’t available.
You can be very certain that mom isn’t going to ask about the supply chain. Her focus is completely locked on doing whatever is possible to help her baby survive.
How can a supply-chain “glitch” be an acceptable answer when her toddler is inching closer to death every hour?
Now, imagine being a healthcare worker, doctor, or nurse who has to show up every day knowing the core resource you need to help babies and toddlers survive malnutrition isn’t available. You get creative, inventive, hopeful, and downright desperate to save the little ones on your watch.
I’ve walked through these malnutrition clinics innumerable times. Normally, there is noise and life everywhere—crying babies and fearful toddlers trying to get away from me, a scary stranger. But during this shortage, the clinic was different.
Babies were lying listless on beds with flies buzzing around their eyes. Exhausted moms languidly waved clothes above their toddlers, trying to shoo the flies away. It was eerie to hear the silence, unnerving to see the skin of babies clinging to tiny ribs, and horrific to watch the slow, shallow breathing of a baby who was close to dying.
How would you react if someone told you all of this was happening because of a supply-chain glitch?
For me, I wanted to march straight into the office of someone who could fix it, shake them by the shoulders, and help them understand the horrific and needless suffering of these innocent little treasures. I wanted the glitch resolved yesterday and the therapeutic milk distributed immediately.
Of course, I had to remind myself that I was a guest in this country, not a citizen. Freedom of speech is a very American ideal, and it doesn’t play out the same way everywhere. Following through on my impulses might have landed me in jail with a whole new kind of “glitch” to deal with!
Thankfully, our therapeutic milk was eventually released and distributed to our malnutrition clinics, and the steady supply returned. And here’s why that matters so much: when we have a steady supply of this incredible resource, more than 90% of the babies and toddlers we treat recover from malnutrition and go on to thrive and live vibrant lives!
That’s why I can’t think about a glitch quite the same way anymore. It’s one thing to experience a glitch in your AC, Wi-Fi router, coffee maker, or car. It’s something entirely different when the lives of babies and toddlers are at risk.
And it’s why consistency matters so much to me. Having therapeutic milk available when a severely malnourished baby or toddler arrives at one of our clinics can be the difference between life and death.
If you’d like to help us keep that lifesaving resource consistently available, I’d be incredibly grateful for your support. Your generosity helps us keep therapeutic milk moving to the clinics and little ones who need it most.
Thank you for standing with us!
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Sarah Bowling
Founder, Saving Moses
