September 11, 2015
Branli is a 16-month-old little boy from Guatemala who lives in an adobe home with his parents. Our medical partner, Wuku’ Kawoq (WK), reports that Branli likes turtles and cars, and enjoys playing with his cousins.
Branli has acute severe malnutrition and diarrhea, WK explains. Without intervention, Branli’s health will continue to worsen. He will be at risk for long term effects of malnutrition and infectious diseases. His sickness also causes him to quickly lose fluids and become severely dehydrated.
With $535, Branli can receive growth monitoring, micronutrient supplementation, and medication to recoup some of his lost weight and height.
“His parents will receive intensive nutrition education,” WK adds, “Thus building their confidence and ability to care for Branli throughout his childhood.”
“I hope that he will grow strong and be able to enjoy school in the future,” says Branli’s mother.
Branli is a 16-month-old little boy from Guatemala who lives in an adobe home with his parents. Our medical partner, Wuku' Kawoq (WK), repor...
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March 1, 2016
Branli received treatment for acute malnutrition.
Despite treatment delays and unexpected complications, Branli is recovering from malnutrition. “When we met Branli, he had diarrhea and severe acute malnutrition with a weight for height Z score of -3.25, and his hair was falling out,” says our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK). “The Health Center had a hard time reaching out to his family. They thought that his mother didn’t want to participate. In reality, she was worried that the community would gossip about her if she were seen in the Health Center with her thin child. As a result, we provided nutrition classes for his mom in their home.”
“We were also able to convince her to bring her son to the Centro de Salud (Health Center) doctor to be evaluated, where Branli received medications to eradicate his diarrheal infection and to replace fluid loss. We also started him on high-calorie supplementation made using Incaparina, milk, and oil to provide him with additional protein and calories. He also received food supplementation twice, which included eggs, beans, and oil. Branli’s diet improved during this time. He is eating more food and getting more protein in his diet.”
“His mom also has noticed increased energy and strength (including more strength to push his feet against the tallimetro (height meter stick) when we try to measure his height). He is running around more, playing with his cousins, playing with his bicycle, and giving high fives. When we last visited him, he had gained 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) within a month, with an improvement of his Z score weight for height from -3.25 to -2.09, which means he had almost completely recuperated from malnutrition by that time.”
“Branli lives close to the border between Guatemala and Mexico in a community 7 hours away from Wuqu’ Kawoq’s main office. Unfortunately, the environment became unsafe due to drug trafficking activity in the area, and it has become impossible to continue home visits without putting staff in harms way. We are still in communication with his mom via telephone, and we hope he continues to gain extra weight to fully recuperate,” WK adds.
For this reason, we were unfortunately unable to obtain a photograph of Branli post-treatment. Should we receive any further updates on his condition, we will share them here.
Despite treatment delays and unexpected complications, Branli is recovering from malnutrition. "When we met Branli, he had diarrhea and seve...
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