Minhaj Gedi Farah becomes face of hope from the famine

 WHEN the world first bothered to notice the famine sweeping east Africa, one child seemed to appear in media outlets everywhere.

HE'S truly one of the lucky ones.

Minhaj Gedi Farah was seven months old when he arrived at the International Rescue Committee Hospital in Kenya, but he weighed only 3.1kg - less that the average newborn.

 His giant eyes stared from a skull-like face, part uncomprehending fear, part despair, and the skin was pulled so tightly across his tiny, gaunt chest each rib was clearly visible.

He was diagnosed with anaemia and severe malnutrition, and needed three blood transfusions before he was also treated for tuberculosis.

Even his mother, Assiyah Dagane Osman, was sure he wouldn't make it, that he would become a one-child personification of a famine that would claim the lives of thousands. But although 29,000 children have died in east Africa, Minhaj wasn't one of them.

Little more than three months after Minhaj was photographed at the Dadaab refugee camp he is not only alive, but he carries the chubby cheeks and smile of any other toddler approaching his first birthday.

After three months of intensive feeding with Plumpynut - a peanut-based nutrition paste - Minhaj now weighs eight kilos, which is close to normal for a boy his age.

His story of survival was highlighted at a fundraising event for the International Rescue Committee, a charity still desperately trying to keep other children like Minhaj alive, with food only reaching some 2.2 million of the 4 million who need it.