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The best of 2018

The Year in Photos

By ALIMA

December 18^th, 2018

ALIMA and our partners were busy in 2018. Across 10 African countries, we provided medical and nutritional care to some of the most vulnerable communities, while building local capacity.

Thanks to your support, this year, more than 1.5 million people who were affected by crises, such as conflict, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and displacement, received life-saving care. At the same time, ALIMA conducted cutting-edge research, continually innovating to transform humanitarian medicine.

In essence, we are working to have an impact today, tomorrow and for the future.

Each day, our teams risk their lives to care for patients, often working in remote, hard-to-reach places, where the needs are enormous. Sharing their stories is not always easy. This is why ALIMA collaborates with photographers, to capture images of the incredible work being done in the field, as well as the strength and resilience of the patients we care for. Below are a few highlights. Enjoy!

Burkina Faso

“My name is Bernardin Koalga, but they call me ‘the detective.’” This is how the 40-year-old health agent from the the ALIMA/SOS Medecins/Keoogo consortium in Burkina Faso, introduces himself. Bernardin’s job is to use “clues” to find the families of children who have defaulted from malnutrition treatment programs in the Yako health district. His mission: to get all malnourished kids back into life-saving treatment. ©WTYSL / ALIMA

CAMEROON

At the Mokolo Hospital in the Far North region of Cameroon, Dr. Christian cares for 3-month-old Ali, who was admitted suffering from malnutrition and respiratory distress. Ali's family was forced to flee their home in Nigeria following attacks by armed groups. They now live in the Minawao refugee camp, where finding food can be difficult. This is Ali's second time being treated at the hospital since he was born. ©Alexis Huguet / ALIMA

cameroon

A tender moment, during an otherwise scary time, between doctor and patient in the Intensive Care Unit at the Mokolo Hospital in Cameroon's Far North region. Ten-month-old Dawaï weighed just 5.6 kilograms (12 pounds) when she was admitted, and was suffering from a high fever and convulsions. Here she will be stabilized and cared for, and then admitted into a malnutrition treatment program. ©Alexis Huguet / ALIMA

central african republic

Bintu recuperates with her new baby at the hospital in Boda, where ALIMA's medical team helped her give birth in the maternity ward. The Central African Republic ranks second in the world for both maternal and infant mortality, and safe births can’t be taken for granted in a country where nearly half of all health structures have been damaged or destroyed by the ongoing conflict. © Monica Pinna

Chad

At the Chad-China Friendship Hospital in N'Djamena, mothers are trained to screen their children for the earliest signs of malnutrition at home, using a tri-colored arm band, known as the MUAC. Each year, the capital city is hit by a peak of malnutrition - many of the children arrive in the advanced stages of the disease. Here, health workers show Saïda, mother of 12-month-old Sherif, how measure her son's arm. Sherif was admitted to the hospital suffering from severe acute malnutrition and diarrhea. He has since gained weight and will soon be discharged. ©Adrienne Surprenant / ALIMA

chad

At the Ndjari health center in N'Djamena, Mariam, a mother of three, holds her 9-month-old daughter Hadidja, who is suffering from malaria and has lost a lot of weight. She will be tested for malnutrition. Each year, during the peak of malnutrition season, the health center sees between 40 - 50 admissions each day. ©Adrienne Surprenant / ALIMA

DEmocratic republic of the congo (DRC)

Following an alert of a suspected case of Ebola in village of Mpombo in June, in DRC's Equateur province, a patient is transferred to ALIMA's Ebola Treatment Center in nearby Itipo. Itipo is a remote forested area in eastern DRC, a few hours drive from the nearest city. Many villages are only accessible by motorbike, making the delivery of medical supplies difficult. ©Caroline Thirion / ALIMA

DRC (KASAI)

Symphorose Mboya is the head nurse at ALIMA's Intensive Therapeutic Feeding Center at the Ditekemena hospital in Thispaka, in DRC's Kasai region. Here she records the height, weight and other medical data of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Since August 2016, the area has suffered from high levels of insecurity, motivated by clashes between armed groups and Congolese armed forces, as well as major inter-ethnic tensions. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced, and lack of access to proper health care, food and shelter has led to particularly high rates of malnutrition among children. ©Alexis Huguet / ALIMA

drc (North Kivu)

When an outbreak of Ebola was declared in DRC's North Kivu and Ituri provinces this year, ALIMA opened a treatment center in the city of Beni to care for suspected and confirmed patients. The treatment center includes nine of ALIMA's innovative CUBEs, a biosecure emergency care unit for outbreaks of highly-infectious diseases. The CUBE reduces the risk of transmission to health workers, who can safely perform medical actions from the exterior without wearing full personal protective equipment. At the same time, patients feel less isolated and can have visits from their family, thanks to the clear walls. ©John Wessels / ALIMA

A doctor prepares to enter the "red zone" within ALIMA's Ebola Treatment Center in Beni, to provide care to patients infected with the virus. All health staff who enter must wear full Personal Protective Equipment, to limit the risk of contamination. ©John Wessels / ALIMA

guinea

As part of the PREVAC clinical research trial, which aims to study the efficacy of two vaccines against the Ebola Virus Disease, Foromo Kpakpavogui, a lab technician at the research center in Landreah, isolates a certain type of blood cell to analyze the patient's immune system response to the vaccine. More than 2,300 people in Guinea have been enrolled since the trial began in 2017. ©Anne-Gaelle Borg / ALIMA

mali

At the Dioila hospital in Mali's Koulikoro region, a health worker prepares to draw blood from a patient. ©Nana Kofi Acquah / ALIMA

niger

The journey is not always easy. Medical teams in Niger's Zinder region must travel far into the desert to reach remote villages, where they provide medical and nutritional care to pregnant women and children. This includes ALIMA's 1,000 Days program, which rethinks maternal-child care by offering a free, comprehensive pre- and post-natal care package to pregnant women and their children, up until the age of two. ©Jennifer Lazuta / ALIMA

niger

Warssou holds her 17-month-old son, Amnou, who is enrolled in the 1,000 Days program in the village of Boulbaram in Niger's Zinder region. "Since he was born, we’ve greatly benefited form this program. Even before his birth, they helped me with prenatal consultations and giving birth. Now, he has received all his vaccines and gets some [supplemental therapeutic] food each month. If he is sick, the medicine is free. With my other kids, I couldn’t afford care like that. They suffered a lot. But Amnou, he is in very good health." ©Jennifer Lazuta / ALIMA

nigeria

Many internally displaced people have come to take refuge and have been living for several years in camps in Muna, located in the vicinity of Maiduguri, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. These internally displaced people live in precarious conditions such as this one, Dalti camp. ALIMA runs a medical center right next door to ensure proximity to the population in need. ©WTYSL / ALIMA

nigeria

In the city of Monguno, in northeast Nigeria, where regular security incidents have been causing people to flee from their homes, ALIMA was among the first NGOs to provide emergency medical assistance, such as primary and secondary health care, to extremely vulnerable populations in need. In our Maternal and Child Health Center, medical teams provide prenatal and antenatal consultations, and both complicated and simple deliveries. As a result, the maternal and infant mortality rate have gone down. ©WTYSL / ALIMA

Nigeria (Lassa Fever)

In response to the largest-ever recorded outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria, ALIMA launched an emergency response to support local health authorities in the two most-affected States - Ondo and Edo. This included case management, protecting and training hospital staff, facilitating laboratory diagnostics, and supporting actions within the community to control the transmission of the hemorrhagic illness. ©Etinosa Yvonne / ALIMA

south sudan

At the Raja State Hospital in Western Bahr El Ghazal State, where ALIMA medical teams offer free pediatric consultations for children under the age of 15, and supports the pediatric hospitalization and intensive care units, complicated malaria cases represented 62% of inpatient admissions in May. During the highest peak of the malaria season, which normally occurs from August to October, it is possible to see the average number of patients double within the pediatric ward. Here, a health worker records the results of a rapid diagnostic test for malaria. ©Eymeric Laurent-Gascoin / ALIMA

south sudan

“Since the beginning of the conflict, it became difficult to find the medicine I need. Most of the time it is not available and when it is, I do not always have enough money to afford it.”

In January 2018, while preparing food, with her 1-month-old daughter Rita in one arm, Malia, who has been taking medicine for epileptic seizures since 2003, started convulsing. The pot of boiling water was knocked over, burning Rita. Malia also fell into the fire, burning her legs. The mother and daughter were rushed to the hospital in Raja, where they both received emergency care and have since recovered. ©Eymeric Laurent-Gascoin / ALIMA

Sept années de guerre ont séparé deux amies, Tatiana et Pélagie. Aujourd’hui, leurs routes se sont recroisées par hasard à la maternité de Zémio.

Read

After 7 years of silence and war, fate brings them together again at the maternity ward in Zémio

Seven years of war separated two friends, Tatiana and Pélagie. Today, their paths have crossed again unexpectedly at the Zémio maternity ward.

Read

NATHAN, A NEWBORN FROM A HIGH-RISK PREGNANCY

Tatiana, 35, lives in the region. Despite her disability, she gave birth to her second son, Nathan, by Cesarean section.

Read

NATHAN, UN BÉBÉ ISSU D’UNE GROSSESSE À HAUT RISQUE

Tatiana, 35 ans, vit dans la région du Haut-Mbomou. Elle est née de petite taille et malgré son handicap, elle a donné naissance par césarienne à Nathan, son deuxième fils.

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FootNotes

August 15th, 2024

July 29th, 2024

Sept années de guerre ont séparé deux amies, Tatiana et Pélagie. Aujourd’hui, leurs routes se sont recroisées par hasard à la maternité de Zémio.

Seven years of war separated two friends, Tatiana and Pélagie. Today, their paths have crossed again unexpectedly at the Zémio maternity ward.

Tatiana, 35, lives in the region. Despite her disability, she gave birth to her second son, Nathan, by Cesarean section.

Tatiana, 35 ans, vit dans la région du Haut-Mbomou. Elle est née de petite taille et malgré son handicap, elle a donné naissance par césarienne à Nathan, son deuxième fils.

August 15^th, 2024

July 29^th, 2024