Rescue a Malnourished Child in Guatemala

Selina comes from a very poor family that lives in the area of Tecpán Chimaltenango. Her father works as a farmer and he barely earns some money to support the family, his salary is lower than the minimum in Guatemala and it’s not enough to support all the expenses of the family. The mother is only taking care of the children and is pregnant at this moment.

Since she was born, she has been a very weak and fragile, she had to be hospitalized many times and the mother was getting desperate because she was always getting sick. Six months ago, the mother was told at the Hospital of Chimaltenango that Selina was malnourished and needed to be treated as soon as possible in order to save her life, that’s when they referred her to Casa Jackson.

At the age of 19 months old, Selina was weighting only 13 pounds; she was accepted in Casa Jackson with a Severe Malnutrition, for that reason we immediately started to give her the required direct care and we did all the medical exams to detect the reason why she was getting sick very often and wasn’t gaining weight. After many laboratories we detected that she has a Neurological problem and for that reason her recovery was slow.

Because of the neurological problem she was not able to move, she didn’t have the strength according to her age and was not doing any noise, she could be all day laid in the crib that no one would notice that she was there. That’s how she was at home and her mother though that she was a very quiet baby. The Doctor explained the mother what was happening and the Nutritionist taught her how she has to take care of little Selina.

 After six months of being treated at Casa Jackson and receiving Physical Therapy, Selina is gaining weight, very slowly, but now she weighs 16.12 pounds. She is able to sit and bounce by herself, she smiles and makes noises; she also has strength in her legs and is able to stand when holding her hands. She wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for all the medical and nutritional care received at Casa Jackson since the mother didn’t have a clue of what to do with her.

Selina is currently treated at Casa Jackson and she still needs more care to reach her full weight, but she is a strong girl and she is fighting day by day to recover and be able to return home healthy and safe.