Friends and Family,
This past week, within 24 hours, our clinic saw three adult cases of severe chronic malnutrition, all women. People are hungry. Prices of gasoline, basic food products, bus transportation, are on the rise. Unemployment is part of life here. Schools are back in session. There are no daily free snacks at schools for the small children.
Our clinic is giving more free consults and medications. Donations are down. This is a worry for us here in the Clinica Maxeña as we look to our budget for 2011.
Yesterday, three of our workers, prepared a new nourishing drink. We hope to encourage, sell, share, this product in our nutrition program and also prescribe for other malnourished patients. Micaela has attended workshops on Nutrition for the past year and will continue this year. This preparation will replace our use of whole milk and again it is using products that are more common for the Mayan population in their diets. Corn, rice, soya, and wheat were toasted and mixed in quantities learned by Micaela in her class. February 9, at our next Clinic general meeting, the workers will sample this new nutritive drink and we will prepare bags of one pound to have available in the clinic and in the nutrition program. This nutritive preparation by our workers will have the name "ATOLE LA MAXEÑA", and have a logo of our Clinic.
Last week the Nutrition Program held it first meeting for 2011; most of the children who were in the program for several months last year are fully recovered, 43 children from infants to 5 years. These children and mothers will now assist classes and receive nutritive snacks every three months; children, newly diagnosed with malnutrition, will be enrolled in the program. This program is free for the mothers and children and the children are examined monthly by our doctor and weighed by his assistant. They will receive our new nutritive drink.
Please put the Clinica Maxeña in your monthly budget!! You can send your donation to www.diocesehelena.org and note for the Clinica Maxeña and the Nutrition Project. thanks much.
Sheila
I share a photo of one of the women patients who has chronic malnutrition and also Chico, Micaela and Giovani toasting ingredients of our new nutritive drink,
"ATOLE LA MAXEÑA".
