The Menace of Malnutrition

Meet José, a ten year old from Santa Rosa.  He has cerebral palsy, and weighs fourteen pounds. 

While we were in Santa Rosa, I once again held a starving child in my arms. . .and realized once again how helpless I am in the face of human suffering.  José is one of the most unresponsive children I’ve ever held.  Usually, when I look into the eyes of a malnourished child, I feel as if they are pleading for help.  As I look into the vacant eyes of José, I fear I’m looking at a child who has given up. . .who has lost hope of receiving human contact or understanding or love.


José’s mother and grandmother are estranged, and he has been living with his grandmother.  For years she has refuse to admit him into any malnutrition program.  She would say that it was because she would miss him too much, but as I watched her with him, in the two plus hours it took Dick and John to fit his chair, I never once saw her talk to him or caress him.  He lay in her lap staring off in one direction as she stared off in another.  While I don’t pretend to understand her life, the mother in me believes José needs more than Grandma is able or perhaps willing go give.

A year ago, a family from Omaha agreed to sponsor this little one and we have been providing food assistance to the family on a monthly basis.  Flori, the social worker from this area who has been taking the food to them, had concerns that José might not be receiving the food, since he was still not gaining weight. We began sending only formula.  Still he was not improving.  Yet grandma refused to bring him into Hermano Pedro for an exam, saying at for years missionaries have told her he would die, and here he is, still alive.

When I faced José at the distribution, I did something I have never done before. . .I told grandma that if she would not allow José to be examined at Hermano Pedro we would stop sending help.  I detest when North Americans think they know better than families how to care for their children, but, after talking extensively with Dick and Flori, I couldn’t help but feel that we were contributing to the neglect of this young boy if we did not set some limits.  I explained to Grandma that I was not saying that José needed to stay at Hermano Pedro, but that I needed to make sure there was not a medical reason (other than his severe Cerebral Palsy) why he was not gaining weight. 

Grandma reluctantly agreed, but Flori told us that she had talked with Hermano Pedro about José and they had said that in this instance his mother would have to be the one to admit him.  It was hard not to feel like we were fighting a losing battle here.  Grandma said she did not know how to reach her daughter.

Enter Vitalina, the amazing office manager for the mayor’s office.  She knew the mother.  She told us Mom lived on the same piece of land on which Grandma lived.  She told us she would handle this.  And she did.  She talked to mom, and explained that Dick and I would drive her to Antigua with José if she could come the next day.  She could not, since she needed someone to care for her younger child. . .and evidently Grandma would not do so. 
She did agree to come in the following day with a group that Flori was bringing to Hermano Pedro from their area. Vitalina found space for her in the van, and they did come in.  Without hesitation, Mom agreed to admit him to Hermano Pedro when we agreed to assume the financial responsibility for any lab tests he might need.



So, our little José is in the malnutrition ward.  I wish I could say that he is thriving, but that is far from the truth.  Dick has been told that it is almost impossible to get him to eat, but they are trying before they use a feeding tube.  I can’t help but feel that he’s just given up.  Still, when he’s held, he does not make eye contact.  He does not cuddle in the way many children, even those with CP, do when they are held.  And my heart breaks anew. . .

Did we do the right thing?  

Was it too little too late?  

Did we just make a bad situation worse?

Those are hard questions to contemplate, and they are impossible to answer. 

I trust, though, that Vitalina and Flori knew the situation better than we do, and used us as the “clout” to get the family to do what was needed for this child. 

I trust, too, the expertise of the staff at Hermano Pedro to provide the best possible care for this child.  Their track record speaks for itself.  (Click here to read about other children they’ve cared for.) 

Most of all,  I trust that God will honor what we did our best to discern what he wanted us to do for José. 
Please pray for this little one, and the dozens of other like him around this country.  I often want to ask God how he can allow these children to suffer and often die from lack of proper nutrition.  But I don’t dare, because I know the answer.  He has provided enough for all his children.  It is we who need to see that they receive what they need.  I can’t end the menace of malnutrition, but, I can respond to each child God puts in my path.  I pray I will be faithful.

Link to Part Two

Time with a team

In early February I was able to break away from school for a few days and accompany a Bethel Ministries International team on a wheelchair distribution to the department of Santa Rosa, near the El Salvador border.

This group was from Dick’s home town area, and I have met a number of them in the past.  And, as God would have it, I needed to go to this area to check on a child we are sponsoring, and wanted to visit some old friends.  I was able to accomplish all of these things in one trip.

This is one of my favorite areas to visit.  The mayor of Oratorio has a great commitment to helping children with special needs, and it is always encouraging to visit here.  (For the folks that were on George Powers Guatemala team in 2009, this is where you all went!)  My good friend, Flori, who is a social worker who frequently comes to Hermano Pedro, is also from this area.


Flori had told me that José, a ten year old with malnutrition who we have been sponsoring for a little over a year now, was coming with his grandmother to this distribution.  I especially wanted to see him, since she had said he was still not gaining weight.  We were able to meet with his grandmother, and ultimately facilitated his admission to the malnutrition project at Hermano Pedro.  (Click here to read more about this.)



Dick and his good friend John Bosman worked almost the whole day constructing a very special chair for José. and during this time I was able to get to know him and his grandma a bit better.  While many chairs were given out this day, it was one of those times when focusing on “the one” became more important than meeting the needs of  “the many.”  Thankfully, this team had some very experienced members, who were able to do a great job seating the others who had come. 



As often happens when I am at a distribution, I spend more time talking with the families who have come in than I do working on chairs.  (I do know which end of the wrench to us, but this is not my strong suit.)  As a result of these conversations, I often find many unmet needs—especially in the area of education.

Maybeline really wanted to take a “selfie” with me

Today was no different.  I met Maybeline, a fourteen year old young lady with a cognitive disability who wanted more than anything to be able to go to school.  As I visited with her mother, I discovered that they were there to get a wheelchair for her grandfather, who her mother was also caring for. 



Mom explained, much to my surprise, that there was a  private school in the area which would accept special needs students, but that they had no money to send her there.  As we talked, I could see how much this young lady wanted to go to school, and also realized what a help this would be in providing a small break for her mom while she was in school. 

Upon further investigation, I discovered that the cost of this would be about $25 a month, and that this was the last week they would be accepting new students for this 2014 school year which began in January.  Usually we look for a sponsor before we agree to put a child in school, but this time I felt a strong prompting to step out in faith and enroll her.  (If you would like to sponsor Maybeline, or other special students like her, please email me for more information.)

I was still a bit skeptical about whether or not this school was really teaching children with special needs, and wanted to see it myself.  Vitalina, the manager of the mayor’s office in Oratorio, agreed to go with us to visit the school the next day. 



I was so pleasantly surprised to be welcomed with open arms by the Director.  She explained their approach, which is pretty much the regular curriculum adjusted to the special student, and took me to meet the two special needs boys who were currently enrolled.  Both of them were very excited to tell me about their studies, and it was obvious how well they were accepted by their teachers and peers.  It was a real treat for me to see “inclusion” at its best in this small Guatemalan town.




Tania would also like to attend school.  Would you consider sponsoring her for a year at $25 a month, so this little girl can reach her goal of learning to read?

News from New Life

A new school year began for us in Santa Maria in mid-January.  We have received a number of new students, some with rather severe learning and physical disabilities.  My student load this year has increased to about 30 students, all of whom need special attention and customized instruction to be able to learn to read, write and do basic math.





Cesar (left) and Dulce (below) teaching me how to use their “name sign.”





I continue to work with our deaf students two days a week, but we are ecstatic to have the help of Latin Deaf Services two days a week.  Three of their staff members come and work with our deaf children, teaching them Guatemalan sign language, and working on academic skills as well.  I so enjoy when these kids come up to "talk" to me. . .I only wish I were better at understanding their signing.





One of the most exciting things I am doing this year is working with Yamelin, our blind student.  Last June a good friend, Donna Hultmann, a teacher of the visually handicapped. came and spent two weeks working with us and helping us plan for our blind and low vision students.  This was a huge blessing, since we really had very little idea how to approach teaching students who could not see.




We had thought that Yamelin was autistic as well as blind, but Donna told us that what we were seeing was pretty typical of a blind child who has not been worked with.  After talking with Yamelin’s mother, she agreed to begin sending Yamelin to school when classes began in January.

Using the techniques suggested by Donna, along with a high amount of predictability and structure, we are seeing great progress.  Yamelin is walking to our classroom with minimal help, and loves to ride the elevator.  She is using more and more spontaneous language, and is beginning to learn general concepts as well as identifying specific objects.  She is using her hands meaningfully to complete simple tasks independently. More and more she is listening to what is going on in group activities, both in my room and in her regular classroom.

I never expected to be honing new teaching skills at this point in my career, but I have to admit I’m enjoying the challenge.  I love how the kids teach me something new everyday. 

Meet Alberto, Our Newest Resident

Since I have returned from the US, much has been happening here in Casa de Esperanza.  And, praise God, all of it’s good.

Our biggest news is that we have received our second resident with special needs, Alberto, who has come to us from his home in the Peten region of Guatemala. 

While our initial hope was to receive young adults who had been institutionalized, Alberto is a special case.  A few months ago, Cesar approached me saying that he knew a young man who lived in northern Guatemala who wanted to come to Hermano Pedro so he could go to school.  As we visited, it became apparent that the orphanage was not somewhere he would receive the kind of education he was looking for.

 

Alberto is 25 years old and has been living with his aging grandmother.    He has osteogensis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease. His father and brother dearly love him, but their home is on the side of a steep hill, and there is no way Alberto can move around there safely.  The slightest fall can cause a broken bone in his fragile legs.

 

Though he has never attended school, Alberto can both read and write.  His cousin taught him to do so.  His greatest desire is to receive a formal education and the diploma that goes with it.  His greatest concern was to be part of a church and faith community while he did this.

After talking with Dick and Cesar, it became apparent that Alberto was perfect for our house.  It was agreed that he would come down to Antigua and stay with us on a 3 month trial basis. 

The last weekend in November, his dad and brother brought him down to Guatemala City by bus, and Dick and Cesar went to the city to bring him to Antigua.  Dad and Brother we able to spend the day and night with us and get to know us a bit. 

Meeting them, I realized how great a sacrifice it is for this family to let Alberto move so far away.  They have spent the last 25 years trying to take care of him, and protect his legs from harm.  Turning him over to strangers, though he wants to be here, has been very hard on them.  I’m so glad they got to actually see where he would live and spend some time here.

It seems that Alberto has settled in quite well.  At first he was pretty quiet, but now has begun to joke and tease along with the rest of the guys.  While he can move around quite freely within the house, his mobility in the community is limited by his manual chair, which does not handle the bumps of the cobblestone streets too well.

This should be remedied shortly, when Dick and some of the boys return from a trip to Playa Grande, where they will pick up Alberto’s power wheelchair.  While he can propel a manual chair well within the house, it is impossible in the streets.  And, given the fragile nature of the bones of his legs, he is in constant fear of the chair tipping over and him falling and hurting himself.  The stability of a power chair will give him the confidence to venture out.

If there is one prayer request I would ask for Alberto, it is that he would become less fearful.  I understand how delicate his legs are, but can’t help but long for the freedom I see in some of the kids here with brittle bone, who cautiously venture out to take on the world, accepting that the possibility of injure is always with them, but not letting it hold them captive.

Thanks to the generosity of his sponsors, we will be hiring a private teacher to come in and work with Alberto, and he will begin his formal education in January! 

The Gang from Chimal

Alex, Dick, Cesar, Kevin, David, Marcos, Brian and David

With the end of classes, many things have changed in our house.  Both Cesar and Fernando have returned to Chimaltenango for the vacation, and have decided they miss it too much to come back to Antigua in January.  They are looking for places to study in Chimal, but since most of the schools are closed for vacation right now, there’s not a lot they can do until January 2.  Pray that there is space where they want to go, especially for Cesar who will be in a government school.  Fortunately they are still enrolled in there schools here in Antigua, and can return here if they can’t find schools in Chimal.

Carlin, one of Dick’s first kids, and one who has grown each day to be more godly young man, graduated from Basico this year.  He wants to study tourism, and he’s one of the few kids I would encourage to do so.  He is great with teams of North Americans, has the right personality for this work, and speaks very good English.  The bonus of this is that he wants to go to school in Antigua and will live with us, come mid-January.  Carlin was the young man who originally trained our workers last Holy Week, and I am so excited to have him become part of our family while he pursues his studies.

Miguel also graduated this year, from Diversificado, the equivalent of our high school.  This accomplishment, which is my no means normal in Guatemala (most are lucky to complete Basico), is even more remarkable when you realize he has been working 5 days a week since he was 14 years old (he’s 22 now) and attending school either nights or weekends.  He would like to continue on to University, and some day hopes to be a psychologist.

Bethel Ministries and Hope Haven Ministries once again held their joint camp this November.  Many of the boys were very involved volunteering at the camp, and were a great blessing to the volunteers from North American—many of whom were a bit squeamish about changing diapers, especially on the adults.  Our guys pitched right in!  We’re so proud of them.

With Dick traveling, it’s given a number of the guys the opportunity to travel with him.  Cesar has turned into an expert mechanic and translator, and got to visit the Mayan ruins in Tikal as well as help out at two distributions.

Marcos and David served as chaperones as Dick and I traveled to Huehuetenango.  It was fun to watch Marcos visit with the families, especially talking to the men, and he is turning into a really good translator as he gains more confidence in his English.  He is a blessing to me, because when I am translating, he intuitively knows what I’m trying to say in Spanish and helps me when I get stuck!

Brian, David, Esbin and Marcos continue to work weekends as assistants for Fidel and Alberto.  They have been joined by Miguel and Cesar’s older brother, Tony, who will be joining our staff full-time in January.  He is currently driving a tuk-tuk in Chimaltenango, and this is becoming increasingly dangerous with the gang activity there.  He will add greatly to our family.

The guys don’t look too overworked,
do they?                 

Soccer (futbol here) continues to be a driving force in the lives ofll the boys.  I pray that someday they will invest as much energy in their future wives and families as they do in this sport.  For now, though, it’s a good outlet for their never-ending energy.  Cesar has even had the opportunity to coach a team of younger boys, thanks to Dick’s sponsorship.

You can see, there’s never a dull moment with these guys, and I am grateful for the role they play in keeping me (and Dick) young!