This little girl was famous for her “Big Belly” in the community. She was once starving near death, but no one was aware of it.

Her family caught Tuberculosis two years ago, after they gave up their nomad life and moved to town to send their oldest girl to school. During the TB treatment, her mom became pregnant. She decided to stop the medication and save the baby. After the baby was born, she was sent to live with her grandparents, to avoid getting TB transmitted to her. From day 1, she was fed by yak milk. At the time when we saw her, she was 3 months old, with the size even smaller than month old, with fever, and a painfully distended belly, because she couldn’t digest the overly rich yak milk.

The Kilung Foundation was able to get her infant formula and she rapidly responded, gained weight and is now thriving.

She is the lucky one. But her experience is also the example of thousands of not that lucky Tibetan nomad families who suffered TB, Hepetitis B and Hydatid Disease, which are all preventable but so prevalent in Dzachuka (almost every family we met are affected). With health education for family planning and child nutrition, and with vaccinations and health checks, we can help to prevent this desperate situation from happening again and again.

Donate HERE to help build the Kilung Shedra and Community Center where the health clinic will be located.