Susana is 17yrs old. Her baby is 11 days old. As is the custom in Guatemala , the baby does not have a name yet.
Susana comes from Mazatenango. She is a single mother. Since she became pregnant she has had no support from the father.
The baby is having convulsions and needs medical treatment. The doctors want the baby to have an MRI of the head. Susana needs to go to the city to do this.She and her mother are already staying at the hospital in Solola, a long way away from their village. They don't have enough money to go back and forth.
The cost for the baby to have the examination and the transportation to the city will cost approx. $200 US.
The baby has also has pnuemonia and a stomach infection.
They have been told that the baby may have liquid on the brain and may need a shunt. The hospital wants this to be done quickly. There is no way that Susana and her mother can afford this treatment.
Susana lives with her mother and father and a 14yr old brother. The brother is the only one who has work in the family. He is working in the fields. He earns $20 US per week. The father is unable to work very much, he had a tumor in his leg and his leg is now paralysed. He has not been able to seek medical attention for his leg. The 14yr old is in 5th grade but it seems that he will not be able to continue his education because he needs to support the family.
They rent the house that they live in.
They pay $50 US per month but they are now behind in the rent because they have not been able to pay it.
The house is made of cement block, the floor is cement and the roof is tin.
They cook over a wood burning stove.
They do not have a water filter.
They do not have a pila. They wash their clothes in the river.
They do not have electricity.
They do not have water connected.
They do not have sewerage.
They have two seats.
They do not have a table.
They have two chairs.
They have one bed. The parents sleep in the bed. Susana and her brother sleep on straw mats on the floor. This is where the baby will also sleep.
They do not have a closet.
They keep their clothes in a cardboard box . They also hang their clothes on rope because there are a lot of spiders.
They use wooden tree trunks to use as a table.
The social worker at the hospital called us to see if we could find help for Susana and her baby. She only does this in really desperate cases where she knows the family really cannot find help.
The baby can go to the hospital in the city on Tuesday if we can afford to pay the medical tests.
If anyone can help Susana and her baby, it would be greatly appreciated.
UPDATE......we sent this little baby for medical treatment to the hospital on Tuesday, 19th, they returned the baby to the hospital in Solola......sadly, she passed away this morning. Her little body is still in the morgue in Solola and we can't find the mother at the moment. She is not answering her cell phone and is not in the hospital.
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