“I want my boy to learn how to walk and to become strong and healthy,” Iker’s mother says. “That’s all.”
Iker is his mother’s first child. She often brings him to work with her, at a neighborhood store, and says that he “loves to just sit and watch people come and go from the store.
Recently, Iker’s mother noticed that he wasn’t growing as well as the other children is his neighborhood, so she brought him to our medical partner in Guatemala, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK). There, he was diagnosed with malnutrition.
“Iker is far below both the average weight and height for his age,” WK reports. “If intervention does not occur, his immune system will crash and he will be unable to ward off infections and illnesses. He will also be at risk of the long-term effects of malnutrition that occur mainly due to the limited brain development that results from malnutrition.”
Iker needs immediate intervention to reverse the effects of his malnutrition and prevent it from getting worse. With our support, Iker will receive the treatment he needs to get healthy again.
WK describes that,”treatment will supply Iker with growth monitoring, micronutrient and food supplementation, and medication for him to recoup some of the weight and height he has lost, overcome the gastrointestinal infection causing his diarrhea, as well as medication to treat his fever, and increase his overall caloric intake. His mother will receive intensive nutrition education thus building her confidence and ability to care for Iker throughout his childhood. Intervention now will prevent the future effects of malnutrition, and give Iker the chance to live a healthy productive life.”