Elvin is a little boy from Guatemala who lives with his parents and his older brother. “His favorite thing to do is to run outside—he’s always racing his older brother,” shares our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK). Elvin also enjoys eating eggs and beans, playing with his soccer ball, and watching television at the neighbor’s house.
Though he turns four next month, Elvin’s vocabulary is limited to only four words: mama, papa, huevo (egg), and agua (water). His developmental disorder frustrates him and makes it difficult for him to communicate with people outside of his immediate family. “He seems to have normal hearing abilities and can understand what others say to him,” shares WK. “He often gets upset when he can’t express himself, or ask for something he needs.”
Elvin’s mother worries that he will not be able to go to school and learn as a result of his disability. This could keep her from finding a job to help with the family’s living expenses.
“Elvin’s father works as a day laborer, taking odd jobs and often working in places far away from the community where his family lives,” WK explains. His mother takes care of her children, cleans the house, and cooks meals for the family. The family looks forward to purchasing a plot of land to grow vegetables, but they cannot yet afford one.
For $386, Elvin will receive speech therapy to help him gain communication skills and independence. He will then be able to enroll in school, thereby giving him a greater chance of being successful later in life.
“My dream is that he learns to talk well, that he can study,” says Elvin’s mother, “I hope one day that he can come out ahead and be independent, may God bless him.”
