“We dream that our daughter can be a good student and an ethical professional one day,” shares Tomasa’s father.
Meet Tomasa, a 23-month-old infant from Guatemala. Our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK), tells us, “Tomasa is the youngest of three siblings. She lives with her family in a one-room house made of wood with a tin roof. Her mother works taking care of Tomasa and her siblings, and her father works as a day-laborer, only making a couple dollars per day when there is work. Although they want the best for her, they cannot afford to give her even one piece of fruit, vegetable, or egg per day, which makes it impossible for her to overcome her malnutrition without treatment.”
Tomasa was diagnosed with acute malnutrition. “Tomasa is below the average height and the average weight for her age,” WK reports, ”She currently is not consuming enough calories and enough quality foods. As a result her physical growth is stunted, and we worry her mental growth will be stunted as well.”
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.
$512 will fund the treatment Tomasa needs to address her nutritional deficit and improve her low energy and subsequent limited mental potential. This involves micronutrient and food supplementation, deworming medication to rid Tomasa of a parasitic infection, and nutrition education for her parents. With these combined efforts, Tomasa will recoup her weight and height and strengthen her immune system, laying the foundation for a healthier future.
