“I want her to continue growing, so she can be the right size for her age and be a healthy girl,” shares Mildred’s mom.
Meet Mildred, a 22-month-old infant from Guatemala. Our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK), tells us, “Mildred lives with her brother and sisters and parents in a humble one-room house with a tin roof. They live in a rural mountainous community, where most people speak Kaqchikel. Mildred is a smiley little girl and loves to eat beans. Her favorite thing to do is to play with her brother’s teddy bear. Her father works in the fields harvesting corn. Her mother works weaving traditional maya textiles, which she sells to make extra money for the family. Although both her parents work hard, they do not make enough money to even feed her one piece of fruit, vegetable or egg per day,”
Mildred was diagnosed with acute malnutrition. “Mildred 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 Mildred 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 Mildred of a parasitic infection, and nutrition education for her parents. With these combined efforts, Mildred will recoup her weight and height and strengthen her immune system, laying the foundation for a healthier future.
