In her arms are seven-month-old boy Aqhaigul and her three-year old daughter Gulmina. They look roughly the same size. Gulima has sores all over her face and patches of skin missing from her legs. She wears a dirty pink outfit and no shoes. She clings to her mother and whimpers.

"My child was very weak and under weight when she was born," says Karima, a mother of four. "We didn't have money, so someone told me about this clinic, and I brought her here to hopefully get some medicine."

Doctors examine Gulmina and tell her mother she has a very severe case of malnutrition and must go to hospital.

Confused by what doctors are saying, her husband Rahmad arrives and takes charge. He's 38 years old but looks at least 10 years older with his dry, weathered skin. He sells corn on the street to support his family and asks: "Who is going to pay for us to go to the doctors? Who is going to pay for her treatment?"

The nurse gives Gulmina a sachet of the energy dense food that comes in the form of peanut paste. She slowly opens her mouth and sucks it. Her father smiles and continues to feed her, forcing it into her mouth.

The nurse explains that she needs time to digest and break it up with mouthfuls of water.

As life returns to Gulmina's little brown eyes her young mother relaxes a little. She knows her child is out of danger for now but explains the reality of their lives and the hardship they face everyday.

"We don't have enough food, and sometimes our four children have nothing to eat. We live in a tent; we have few belongings. If my husband gets work, then we can find food. If not, then we all eat less. This can go on for days."