Alice*, a mother of three from Turkana County, struggled to keep her children alive as prolonged drought, food insecurity, and poverty pushed her family to the brink. When her four-year-old daughter Charity* developed severe acute malnutrition and began losing her eyesight, Save the Children reached their community through the UK Aid Match-funded ACCEPT project. After receiving life-saving treatment and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), Charity recovered her strength and sight, giving Alice renewed hope. Today, despite walking three hours to access outreach services and facing ongoing hardship, Alice continues to seek care for her children, determined to give them a healthier future.
For years, Alice* woke each morning with the same worry: how would she feed her children?
Living in the remote, drought-stricken plains of Turkana County in northern Kenya, the mother of twin daughters Charity* and Sharon* (4) and baby Lucy* (2 months) depended on burning and selling charcoal to survive. The work was difficult and the income unreliable, often enough to buy only one meal a day, and rarely a nutritious one.
As prolonged droughts intensified across northern Kenya, life became even more difficult. Livestock, the backbone of many families' livelihoods, disappeared as pasture and water sources dried up. Food became increasingly scarce, and children were among those hardest hit.
Alice watched helplessly as her daughters grew weaker.
Charity's condition became critical. She developed severe acute malnutrition, her tiny body weakened, and she gradually lost her eyesight.
"I was very worried," Alice recalls. "My child was so weak she could not see."
For families living in remote communities across Turkana, accessing healthcare is a constant challenge. The nearest health facilities can be many kilometres away, making timely treatment difficult for children suffering from malnutrition and other illnesses.
Hope arrived in June 2025 when Save the Children, through the UK Aid Match-funded ACCEPT project, conducted an integrated outreach clinic in Alice's community. Through the UK Aid Match initiative, every eligible pound donated by Save the Children's supporters was matched by the UK government, helping expand access to life-saving health and nutrition services for vulnerable children.
Before the outreach visit, a Community Health Promoter went door-to-door informing families about the free services available. Alice brought all three of her children for screening.
Health workers immediately identified Charity as suffering from severe acute malnutrition and enrolled her in the Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP), where she began receiving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Her twin sister Sharon, who was also malnourished, was enrolled in the Supplementary Feeding Programme and both children started receiving regular follow-up care through the outreach clinic.
The transformation was remarkable.
Within weeks, Charity regained her strength. She began smiling again, playing with her sister, and, to Alice's immense relief, her eyesight returned.
"My child was so weak she could not see, but after taking Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, her sight returned," says Alice. "That gave me hope again."
The recovery gave Alice renewed determination.
Today, she walks three hours each way to the nearest integrated outreach site whenever her children need treatment or routine check-ups. The six-hour round trip is exhausting, but she never misses an appointment.
"I walk for three hours because I know the outreach site saves my children's lives," she says.
Alice* lives in Turkana, in northern Kenya. As a mother of twin daughters Charity* and Sharon* (4) and baby Lucy* (2 months), she has struggled for years to provide for her family in an environment shaped by chronic drought, limited food access, and scarce livelihood opportunities. Her two daughters, Charity and Sharon, were the most affected. They frequently missed meals and grew increasingly weak. Charity's condition became critical, she developed severe acute malnutrition, her body weakened, and her eyesight was impaired. Everything changed in June 2025 when Charity and Sharon attended a Save the Children outreach mobile clinic and were enrolled in the nutrition programme. Charity began receiving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to treat her severe acute malnutrition. Within weeks, she regained strength, her energy returned, and remarkably, her eyesight was restored. Her sister also showed signs of recovery (see Story Document for the full story). Gideon Ole / Save the Children
Yet survival remains a daily struggle.
Ironically, when the long-awaited rains finally came, they brought another hardship. Wet wood could no longer be burned into charcoal, bringing Alice's only source of income to a halt.
Without money to buy food, she turned to the wild.
She collects edible fruits along riverbeds and gum from indigenous trees to feed her children before they sleep. Much of the family's nutrition now depends on these wild foods and the therapeutic food provided through the outreach programme.
"When drought comes, hunger follows," Alice says. "Charcoal used to help us, but when the rains came, it died. Now we depend on wild fruits and the therapeutic food."
Despite these challenges, Alice remains hopeful.
She dreams of a future where her children no longer go to bed hungry, where they have enough nutritious food to grow strong, attend school, and enjoy the childhood every child deserves.
For health workers, Charity's recovery highlights the importance of bringing healthcare closer to communities that would otherwise be left behind.
"When Alice's children were first identified during outreach, they were severely malnourished and in a very weak condition," explains Lobolia Akutan, Programme Coordinator. "Charity was immediately enrolled in the Outpatient Therapeutic Programme. Through the provision of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food and close follow-up, we were able to stabilise her condition. Within a few weeks, we saw significant improvement as her strength returned and her overall health improved."
Charity continues to receive treatment through the Outpatient Therapeutic Programme, with her nutritional status steadily improving. Her Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), an important measure of nutritional recovery, has increased from 11.3 cm when she was admitted to 12.1 cm. Sharon also continues to improve through ongoing nutrition support and counselling.
In remote parts of Turkana, where some families must travel long distances to reach the nearest health facility, integrated outreach services are often the only opportunity children have to access life-saving healthcare. Working alongside Community Health Promoters, Save the Children identifies children at risk early, provides treatment for severe and moderate acute malnutrition, conducts routine health screenings, and equips caregivers with the knowledge they need to keep their children healthy.
Funded by the UK government through UK Aid Match, the ACCEPT project (May 2023–May 2026) supports marginalized communities in Turkana and Mandera counties by strengthening health systems, expanding integrated outreach services, and increasing access to essential health and nutrition care. Through the UK Aid Match initiative, every eligible pound donated by Save the Children's supporters was matched by the UK government, helping thousands of vulnerable children receive life-saving treatment while strengthening community health systems for the future.
For Alice, the impact is deeply personal.
Every step she takes on the three-hour walk to the outreach clinic is a reminder that her daughter was given another chance at life.
"I am grateful for the help we receive," she says. "I only want my children to grow up healthy."
