34-year-old Odilla has had rheumatoid arthritis for eleven years. She normally relies on anti-inflammatories and painkillers to keep her swelling down and her discomfort at bay.
After her partner left her recently, Odilla lost one of her family’s key income sources, and now spends what little money she comes by on her ten-year-old son’s basic needs.
“Odilla does not have the money to provide her son with an education as well as buy herself medication, so she has not been taking her medication,” explains our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq.
Without her medication, “Odilla gets severe flare-ups in her hands and her left knee every couple weeks,” says Wuqu’ Kawoq. “When that happens, her knee gets red, swollen and infected, and makes it hard for her to walk around the rural mountainous community in Guatemala that she lives in.” Her arthritis also makes her hand so inflamed that “she has a hard time weaving textiles, which is her primary form of income.”
But with our help, Odilla will not longer have to choose between her son’s well-being and her own. For $367, our medical partner will provide Odilla with a four-month supply of the anti-inflammatory and painkiller medications she needs in order to keep her arthritis under control. This sum will also pay for lab tests so doctors can monitor her progression.
“I want to see my son grow, and be able to educate him in a better way,” shares Odilla. “I also want my pain to go away.”
