Friends,
Yesterday, Micaela and Francisco, in charge of our Program for malnourished infants and small children, made some home visits in a nearby mountain community.
Juan Otoniel is 3 months of age. He is an adopted child from a distant family member; the mother had rejected him at birth. His adopted mother Antonia, 30 years of age with three small children of her own, chose to adopt him when she heard the mother did not want the baby. Antonia and her young husband are extremely poor. They rent the small mud brick home from a neighbor for 30 Quetzales a month, equivalent to four dollars. They have no personal land and Max, her husband, works in the fields for four dollars a day, when he can find work. Their kitchen is of dirt floor and Antonia cooks over an open fire on the floor. When the baby was one month Antonia came to the clinic for assistance, as she has no breast milk. The infant was admitted to our nutrition program and receives formula and health care. Today when Micaela and Francisco made the home visit Antonia told them the baby developed jaundice or yellow pigment and very dark urine the last few days. This is a serious health symptom and she promised to bring the baby to consult at the clinic tomorrow.
When Micaela asked the mom why did she have the infant dressed as if a baby girl with the typical skirt; she smiled and said, I have no clothes for the baby so I cut off a piece of my skirt to wrap around the baby.
After this home visit the decision to give this family a donated ONIL stove was made. We will deliver and install the stove as soon as possible. This saves fire wood and eliminates smoke in the home.
Enclosed a picture of Antonia outside her home with the baby and also an older daughter, Manuela. The other photo is in her kitchen with her infant son, Juan Otoniel, near her cooking area over open fire on the ground.
THANK YOU to all who have donated $100. and make it possible to donate an ONIL STOVE to a poor family!
Donations can be sent to Clinica Maxeña STOVE PROJECT:
www.diocesehelena.org
blessings Sheila
