Elvira.

Hi Everyone,

21 year old Elvira only had the chance to go to school until 6th grade--after that, she began working to help support her mother and her five siblings. Her employer knew that she was diagnosed with epilepsy three years ago, and therefore shouldn't work near the fire, and she normally arranged to keep Elvira at a safe distance from the stove. Unfortunately, one day in August of 2010, while Elvira's employer was making tortillas, her young daughter began crying in another room. Her employer asked her to tend the tortillas, and though she was gone only a minute, Elvira had a seizure, and fell forward with her face against the hot iron stove. Her employer quickly pulled her out of the fire, but Elvira was badly burned.

Elvira has lived with this disfiguring burn for months, usually covering her face with a rag, both to protect it and hide it from view. Thankfully, Mayan Families was able to arrange for a visiting medical clinic specializing in burn victims to operate on Elvira this week.

They will take some skin from behind her ear and use it to repair her lower lip, which is currently pulled down and fused to the skin on her chin. The surgery will make a huge difference in Elvira's appearance and self confidence, and she is very happy to have this opportunity. While the surgery is free, she will need to pay for her transportation to and from the clinic (which is several hours away in another city), accomodation overnight, and the follow up medication she will need. In total, this will cost about $300, which is far beyond what Elvira's family can pay.

To read Elvira's story or to help her, please go to:

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2011/02/elvira-needs-medicine-for-surgery-on.html

or

http://mayanfamiliesconnectionguatemala.blogspot.com/2011/02/elvira-needs-medicine-for-surgery-on.html

Thanks!

Bonnie