Last year, the father of the family, Fermin, went to visit the doctor after suffering some pain in his stomach. He was prescribed medication which he continued to take for several months despite the fact that the pain was getting worse and worse. Finally, when the pain became almost unbearable, he went to hospital where they discovered that in fact none of the pills he had been taking had dissolved and had formed a massive ulcer in his stomach.
He was forced to have a colostomy, now has a colostomy bag and has been unable to work since. In order to get back-up and working he needs to have a large number of tests done to see if the colostomy bag can be removed, however these are prohibitively expensive ($500 US dollars). His wife washes clothes for a living earning less than $3/day and has no hope to be able to pay for these fees while still keeping the family afloat.
However the family’s problems do not stop there. Last year their 12 year old son Brian Jose was diagnosed with Leukemia. With his father not working the family is struggling to pay for his transport expenses to the city to attend his chemotherapy sessions ($30/month). This is life saving treatment that is not available anywhere locally.
On top of this, the family lost their home in the 2010 floods. They have been in sheltered accommodation ever-since waiting for permanent housing to be available to them. By a stroke of luck they have just been told that a house has been allocated to them however in order to claim it they need to pay $300 in legal fees – if they do not process the paperwork by the end of the month the house will be forfeited to another family. With their combined medical situations it is extremely unlikely they will be able to do this on their own.
If you can support this family in any way please donate online at http://www.mayanfamilies.org/DonateNow and quote FA-312.
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