Physical Health Guatemala Project #7067

Rescue a Malnourished Child in Guatemala

by The GOD'S CHILD Project

Rescue a Malnourished Child in Guatemala

Project Report | Mar 18, 2021
Damarys

By Rodolfo Toc | Sponsorship Department

Damarys is 11 years old and lives in Antigua Guatemala with her mother, brother, grandparents and uncle.

Her house is made of cement blocks and sheet metal with a cement floor. The rent is Q700 ($93) a month and is paid by Damarys’s grandfather. Damarys’s parents separated around a year and a half ago. Currently, her father has very little communication with her and her brother and is not helping the family financially.

Damarys’s mother has two jobs. She works as a house cleaner and in a shop. She receives Q1100 ($146) a month and uses this to buy food for the family and to pay for Damarys’s medicine.

Damarys began to lose weight around a year ago because she was only eating sweets and drinking fizzy drinks. In November 2020 she was taken to Antigua National Hospital and was found to have serious problems with her lungs, kidneys, and liver, as well as being severely malnourished. The doctor indicated that he needed to do a number of further examinations and organised them for the end of November. Damarys’s mother did not take her to them, however, having heard of a large number of COVID cases in the hospital and cancelling out of fear.

Some members of a church wanted to help Damarys and paid for her to have an examination at a private clinic and the family was told that there would be no major future complications if Damarys began to have a healthy diet and took some vitamin supplements. The doctor advised that the family should take Damarys to the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City for further checkups but Damarys’s mother did not have the money to pay for transport.

In February 2021 Damarys’s mother approached La Asociación Nuestros Ahijados to ask us to help her daughter. She visited our clinics and was referred to Casa Jackson by our doctor John Dwyer. At the time her weight was 48 lbs (21.8 kg) and her height was 132 cm.

Damarys is currently being treated at Casa Jackson and is also having a number of examinations to check on her organs. She has a special diet and supplements to help her weight gain. Damarys’s mother is very grateful to Casa Jackson for giving her hope that her daughter can recuperate and have a chance at a normal life. She will also be able to continue her studies and reach her goals. In the month that Damarys has been in Casa Jackson with us she has gained 2 lbs (0.9 kg) and is feeling much better. We are looking forward to seeing her continue to grow and improve both physically and mentally in the future.

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Nov 23, 2020
Beautiful Berlyn

By Robbie Middleton | Sponsorship Coordinator

Most Casa Jackson patients stay for around 2 months while they recover from life-threatening malnutrition. Once in a while, however, a patient stays with us for a much longer period. This year, for almost 8 months, we looked after beautiful Berlyn.

Berlyn arrived at Casa Jackson after she was abandoned by her parents. There is an age difference of 38 years between Berlyn’s mother and father. Berlyn’s mother is known to suffer from epilepsy.

In February 2020 she was taken to the Hospital in Malacatán, San Marcos with pneumonia by her father. While Berlyn was in hospital her mother did not visit her. After she had recovered from pneumonia, Berlyn’s father was informed that he could take her home from the hospital. He told the nurses that he needed to go and get something first and then left and never returned. At the beginning of March 2020 Berlyn was brought to Casa Jackson by Guatemalan Social Services weighing just 11 lbs 3 oz. (5.07 kg) and severely malnourished.

At first, Berlyn was quiet and reserved at Casa Jackson. The hair on the back of her head did not grow as a result of lying on her back all day and it took time for her to try and move or roll over. She also took some time to get to know the nurses, staff, volunteers and other babies. After a few weeks, however, Berlyn began to come out of her shell and show off her personality. She particularly loved to listen to music and began to show off her own dance moves, waving her arms and shaking her hips. Berlyn’s lively personality and dance moves quickly made her a staff favorite.

Berlyn also learned many new things at Casa Jackson. She began to say one or two words and started to walk with support from an adult or in the stroller. With her hair growing back she learnt to use a comb and she picked up some new dance moves from some of the mothers in Casa Jackson. She began to be more independent and would explore Casa Jackson herself. She would play with her friends and could often be heard laughing and giggling.

During her time in Casa Jackson, Berlyn gained 10 lbs. 11 oz. (4.85 kg) which was 96% of her initial body weight. She stayed at Casa Jackson for such a long time as her future living situation had to be organised before she could leave. As she had been abandoned, Berlyn had nowhere to go once she had recovered, and so she stayed at Casa Jackson until somewhere for her to live had been found.

After staying at Casa Jackson for almost 8 months Berlyn was finally found a home with a relative who agreed to look after her. She had had a wonderful time at Casa Jackson and had made incredible improvements but it was time for her to go home. She made the long journey back to San Marcos to start her new life with her new family.

Links:

The GOD'S CHILD Project

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Jul 27, 2020
A Different Kind of Casa Jackson Report

By Robbie Middleton | Coordinator of Sponsorships

This report is slightly different to ones we have done previously; however, it shows the important work we do to continue to provide for our Casa Jackson babies, even after they have left the four walls of Casa Jackson.

Pictured is little Heidy, a child whose family we have been supporting for a number of years now. We first came to know them when they arrived at our Santa Madre Homeless Shelter in late 2018, having spent time living in the streets. Then, when Heidy and her sister Eva spent 5 months in Casa Jackson between February 2019 and July 2019 recovering from malnutrition. Now, almost a year after they left, we are still providing them with life-changing support.

We wanted to make sure that we could continue to support Heidy and her family after they left Casa Jackson as she and her sister had spent so much time with us. This year we enrolled Heidy and her older siblings, Omar, Damaris, and Cristian into our schools. Omar is studying in the Scheel Center School, Damaris is in the Hermano Pedro Special School, and Cristian and Heidy are at The Dreamer Center School. The children's mother, Doña Eva, has continued to be a member of the Club de Madres (Mothers' Club) which she became a part of while staying at Casa Jackson and now regularly receives vegetables and clothes. She also received a 45lbs. 'Amor en Caja' box of food supplies during the current pandemic.

Heidy’s family has had a place to stay for the past 6 months, but they certainly haven't had a home. Where they were living could hardly even be called a house. It was on the front porch of another house with two sheet metal walls and two blanket 'walls'. The family was exposed to the elements and at serious risk of illness.

During the COVID pandemic we received a donation big enough to allow us to build one of our ‘Casa Azul’ houses for a family, and we chose Heidy’s family because they had the greatest need. Right away, we began preparations to build them their very own house.

Our Guatemalan staff worked as a solid team to build this house in just 2 days while the family's children helped to paint the house. It was hard work but completely worthwhile as together we worked to change this family's life for the better.

We always want to stay in touch with the children who have stayed at Casa Jackson and their families to ensure that they don’t become malnourished again, but we also want to do everything we can to fight the root causes of malnutrition as well. By building the family a house and providing a safe place for them to live we ensure that Heidy and her sister Eva have a better future and a lesser chance of falling back into malnutrition.

Links:

The GOD'S CHILD Project

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