Skin with Bone – Nabila Abdullah Nasser

Poverty! This of course what takes life away from the bodies of people. It removes a small piece of their bodies every day. The bellies shrink to cover one meal a day. As poverty intensifies, the bellies shrink even more until the flesh disappears, the skin attaches to the bone, and the facial expressions shrink to the point where they are almost impossible to return as they were before hunger. Thus the organs of the body collapse until they cease to live.

It is so sorrowful to see such a scene, but what is way more painful than that is to see infants’ bodies become much weaker with hunger in front of you. Their skins get smaller as if they were elderly, and their limbs are not able to move an inch. Sadly, none of their facial expressions could be recognized clearly other than big soulful eyes.

Nabila Abdullah Nasser, a seven-month old infant, who suffers from a severe acute malnutrition. Her father has no money, so there is no hope for her to reach a healthcare center. This has led her to either receive a treatment in a remote village where she lives or dies in her bed.

Her father says,” Either you treat my daughter, or I will leave her the way she is at home.” Leaving her at home means waiting for her absolute death. The poor father does not mean that he accepts her death harshly, but his harsh circumstances forced him to say so especially because he is a farmer who is paid in a daily wage which is not even enough to feed his family. He wishes as any father to treat his little daughter, but his residence is very far from the public services. So there is no money for transportation and treatment, nor is there money for food.

The area where they live is “Al-Qafr Al-Safil” in Ibb governorate, which is difficult to reach. It is very poor, and it has no life basis. Nabila’s family lives in a single room. Her older sister suffers from delayed walking and lack of calcium. Her mother suffers from a moderate acute malnutrition, and what made their condition worse is the mother’s new pregnancy.

Nabila and her mother are models in the war and poverty time. Nabila is still at risk of her sickness, and her mother is in a very poor health condition, so the mother cannot take care of herself nor her children. Nabila’s father has not many options, so Nabila has to either be treated by those who feel pity on her condition or to be left until she dies.