Alima's poor diet could leave her blind

Five year old Alima from Ethiopia needs your help. 

She's facing a real risk of losing her sight simply because she lacks essential vitamins in her diet.

When her father Haji fell sick with malaria, the doctors who were treating him at the CBM-supported clinic noticed that he was also showing signs of vitamin A deficiency in his right eye.

Vitamin A is essential to the body. A diet of vegetables like carrots and broccoli, fruits like mango and apricot, or eggs can help to give the body the nutrients it needs not only to avoid blindness, but also diseases like measles, and even premature death.

Alima is watched by her grandmother as she receives a Vitamin A capsule. Photo: CBM/Hartung.

Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of avoidable blindness amongst children. It is estimated that between 250,000 - 500,000 vitamin A deficient children become blind every year, with half of them dying within 12 months of losing their sight.

Alima, along with the rest of her family including her two-and-a-half year old brother Abdela, and baby sister Medina all need vitamin A urgently or they could be facing an uncertain future.

Just £15 can provide enough vitamin A capsules to protect the sight of 50 children for six months.

CBM not only provides vitamin A capsules to help prevent deficiency blindness, but also provides support to help educate communities about nutrition and agriculture initiatives that can help avoid vitamin A blindness.

Please help a child like Alima.