Meet Kelly, an 11-month-old infant from Guatemala. Our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK), tells us, “Kelly is the fourth child in her family. Kelly has four siblings: three older and one younger. Kelly’s mother is young. She noticed that her daughter was not growing very well, but had no financial means to bring her to a doctor or seek medical attention. She cannot afford to buy food as she struggles to live completely on her own after suffering domestic abuse.”
Kelly was diagnosed with acute malnutrition. “Kelly is far below the average height for her age and the average weight for her age,” WK reports, “She has diarrhea, and her immune system is weak. Her family is extremely poor and does not have enough resources to buy enough food for Kelly. Without intervention, Kelly is at risk for the long-term effects of malnutrition, which includes suffering from a weakened immune system.”
As a result of food insecurity and marginalization, indigenous Guatemalan villages have the highest rates of stunting in the world. In addition to growth stunting, malnutrition can lead to lower IQ, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity later in life.
$512 will fund the treatment Kelly needs to address her nutritional deficit. This treatment intervention will provide Kelly with food and nutritional supplements to recoup her weight and height and strengthen her immune system, thus allowing her to fight infection and illness throughout her life. She will also receive deworming medication to treat her diarrhea and continuous growth monitoring to allow doctors at WK to adjust the treatment as needed.
Her mother will also have the opportunity to participate in nutrition courses in order to better understand her child’s condition as well as better be able to prepare nutritional meals for her family given a limited income.
Kelly’s mother shares: “I wish the best for my daughter, for all of my children really. I hope they do not have to face the hard economic times I have faced in my life.”