'There was no food at home and we couldn't feed her well': Thousands of South Sudan's children starving to death

30,000 people in South Sudan are at risk of starving to death.

Four-year-old Nyajime Guet was taken to a UNICEF-backed clinic on October 12. She was suffering tuberculosis and was so malnourished she weighed less than twenty pounds. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Guet's father, Michael Wieu, was a university student who was forced to evacuate his Bentiu village with his family. He has since completed his degree, but the family had no money as a result of the South Sudan civil war.

He knew his little girl was dying, and in a last-chance effort, he took her to the clinic.

"There was no food at home and we couldn't feed her well," he said. "She was getting more and more sick every day. The day I brought her to the clinic she wasn't moving, she couldn't walk or sit.

Wieu cradled his daughter in his arms and stayed by her side in the Juban clinic as doctors fought to save her. Within five days, Guet showed signs of improvement and was able to sit up unaided. She even offered a small smile.

 By the eighth day, Guet could stand, though she was shakey on her feet. By the eleventh day, she was grinning.

Her recovery has been hailed as remarkable and she is expected to make a full recovery.

Sadly, Guet is one of thousands suffering disease and starvation in South Sudan. 

UNICEF representative Jonathan Veitch told MailOnline, "Nyajime is not an unusual case. Unfortunately, the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition has more than doubled since 2013."

The war has devastated harvests, increased prices, displaced over 2.2 million people and has left 10,000 people dead. UNICEF estimated over 3.9 million people in South Sudan were "experiencing severe hunger," while 30,000 were at risk of starving to death.

The organization planned to treat 148,958 children under the age of 5-years-old who are suffering severe acute malnutrition (SAM) across the country. To meet that need, roughly $184,000,000 (Ł122million) would be required to feed, shelter and educate the children.

Veitch said, "UNICEF and partners have had to scale up the response to reach the most vulnerable children. Just this year UNICEF, through its partners like International Medical Corps, have treated close to 120,000 children with SAM, 50 per cent more children than this time last year. 

"Looking forward, it is critical to continue scaling up the response to reach as many children as possible, our target for 2016 is 166,222 children. And without the funding, many of these children may die."

Other organizations around the world have been contributing to help stop world hunger, including Your Catholic Voice Foundation, which helps feed the hungry, engages in several other forms of charity and provides emergency aid.

If you are interested in donating to help feed children around the world, please visit click here.

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