Delia lives with her family in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof in Guatemala. Her father works as a farmer, who cultivates corn and green beans. Her mother takes care of her and weaves traditional Mayan textiles, which she sells in the local market. Delia loves to play with her rattle and her teddy bear with her older sister. She absolutely loves to eat scrambled eggs and güicoy, a type of squash, but eating is difficult with her cleft lip and palate, which makes it hard for her to gain weight without access to high-protein foods and micronutrient supplements.
Delia was supposed to receive surgery to repair her cleft lip and palate three weeks ago, but doctors told her that she was too malnourished to receive the surgery. Her weight is far too low for her size, weakening her immune system, and making even a bout of diarrhea or a fever life-threatening. Her neurodevelopment is also slowing due to her malnutrition, which makes it hard to reach key developmental milestones such as learning to sit on her own.
Growth monitoring, micronutrients, food supplementation, and deworming medication will help Delia gain weight, grow taller, catch up with other children her age, and help her grow stronger. Treating her now will have a large impact. She will likely be able to reach developmental milestones just like healthy kids her age. This treatment will strengthen her immune system, increase her overall caloric intake, and provide her with more energy to play. Her parents will receive the support they need to give Delia the diet she needs to grow and develop. They will receive motivational nutrition classes to learn what, when, and how to feed Delia the best diet possible. This will give Delia the chance to live a healthy and productive life.
“We want her to grow better and go to school,” Delia’s mother said.