Girls running on the school grounds with school bags shared after cyclone hit the district of Mananjary © iAko M. Randrianarivelo/Save the Children iAko M. Randrianarivelo/Save the Children

Kowsar, 3, Awale, 4, Abdi, one-month-old, and three other siblings live with their mother, Amina, 25, in a remote village in Garissa County. Amina depends on her goats to feed her children, including Kowsar and Awale, but in the current season of drought, she is struggling to feed them. Awale became ill with Moderate Acute Malnutrition, followed by Kowsar, who had Severe Acute Malnutrition, and both were treated by Save the Children. The family have also received a cash transfer so they can buy nutritious food.

Umeyma, 4, is from a remote village in the windswept Garissa County. She lives with her two brothers, three sisters, her mother and father in a small traditional family home built of sticks, old blankets, and pieces of cloth. Nomadic pastoralists by nature, Umeyma and her family are always on the move looking for water and pasture. However, the ongoing severe drought, which has dissipated pasture in the vast Garissa County, has made the life and lifestyle of her family almost unbearable. According to her mother, Maryam, 42, they had to walk more than 40 kms to the nearest settlement just to be near a water source and to benefit from medical services and aid from the county government and aid agencies such as Save the Children. On this particular day a team from Save the Children makes their way to their home to check on their progress, her sister Fatuma, 3, is suffering from severe acute malnutrition and Rahma, 2, who is ailing from moderate acute malnutrition. The two girls have been enrolled into a Save the Children-supported Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) program and are currently receiving treatment. Delfhin Mugo / Save the Children

Emily, 29, lives with her husband and four children in Bungoma, Kenya. All of their children were born at Kabula Health Centre, which is supported by Save the Children. Emily gave birth to baby Blessing at the health facility. She wasn’t able to deliver the placenta at first and is thankful that the nurses were there to help her to do so. Emily advises that other pregnant women visit a health facility rather than risk giving birth at home. Emily chose the name Blessing because she feels her new baby is a gift and will be a huge blessing in her life. Emily tells us she has had enough children, and wants to focus on looking after them and working on her business. Sarah Waiswa / Save the Children

*Shankaroon lives in Garissa County with her five children in northern Kenya. The area has been hit by severe drought, killing most of their livestock which was their main form of income. Her husband left the family in search of pasture with the animals that survived, and *Shankaroon now lives alone with her children. Her children used to eat and play with full bellies, but the impact of the drought has meant they can only each twice a day and rely on a diet of just plain rice and grit maize. She only gives the children breakfast and lunch, and they often go to sleep hungry with no dinner. *Shankaroon says her children now just stay at home, and have stopped being active and just sleep instead. Her son *Hirsi* is suffering from malnutrition and is receiving treatment from Save the Children supported health services. Their village doesn’t have clean water, and the family walk for over an hour with jerry can rollers to the nearest well. *Shankaroon often sends her twelve-year-old son* Yunis to collect the water on his own, but he is sometimes beaten by older children on the way. She hopes that her children will grow up, learn, get a job, finish their studies and enjoy life. Save the Children have provided the family with a cash grant which aims to cover their immediate food and non-food needs to help protect or restore livelihoods options. We also support and train Community Health Volunteers in order to help treat malnutrition at community level, to ensure children have access to health and nutrition services. *Shankaroon’s story in her own words: “The drought has affected us, our animals have been killed. It has impacted us all, including all of our neighbours. “My children had been drinking milk from the animals, but they all died. Now there is nothing for them to eat. “We used to cook four times per day and now we only cook twice a day. “My children got sick and I was told that their immune systems are low. Like this one (Hirsi*), they said that he has malnutrition. “My children used to play, they would eat four times a day, and they had full bellies. But now they only eat twice, they have stopped playing and being active, they don’t have an appetite. “Now they stay at home, they have stopped playing and being active and follow me whenever I go. I am worried for my children. “I would like my children to grow up, learn, finish their studies, get a job and enjoy life.