Meet Alba, a bright-eyed, one-year-old girl from Guatemala. She is the youngest of four children and is raised by her single mother. According to our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK), a total of nine people live in Alba’s grandparents’ two-room house, where Alba “loves to play dolls with her two older sisters.”
Alba is suffering from acute malnutrition. “Her weight and height are far below the average for her age, and she is at for the risk for long-term negative effects of malnutrition,” WK explains. “If left untreated, Alba will start to miss developmental milestones. She currently has low energy, and her body is struggling to grow and develop normally. Her immune system is weak, and she is at risk for infections, such as pneumonia. Later in life she will be at higher risk for chronic illness such as diabetes and hypertension.”
Fortunately, we can give Alba the care she needs, as $535 in funding will cover the supplemental nutrition, medication and health education that will allow Alba to recoup her weight and weight. “The nutrition education will have long lasting effects, giving Alba’s mother the tools she needs to continue providing nutrition to Alba and her other siblings even after treatment is complete,” WK reports. In addition, Alba’s “immune system will strengthen, allowing her to better combat infections and illness throughout her life.”
Alba’s mother shares, “I want my daughter to grow up and become a lawyer. That’s my dream for her. She should help treat the injustice that exists in this society…fight for her children, and make a better life for them than we have now.”
