The pandemic’s indirect effects on small children could last a lifetime

MENUMATU NALLO’s group meets beneath a tree in Kambia, a town in north-west Sierra Leone. Some 40 women (and a few men) gather on plastic chairs. Brandishing picture cards, Ms Nallo reminds her neighbours which foods are good for pregnant women to eat. She implores young mothers to feed newborns only breast milk, and to reject cups of water offered by well-meaning relatives. Ms Nallo likes to open her sessions with a Christian prayer. She ends them with a Muslim one.