Either the parents took them there or the govt. officials would have taken all four of their children to an orphanage and they would have lost custody of their children.
It was a very hard decision for the parents but it was made easier by having the situation explained to them in their own language by a Mayan Families social worker.
They were taken to the hospital in the Mayan Families pick up...accompanied by the driver, Juan Carlos, who has a very good heart and as a father knew how hard it was for the parents to leave their children. Elisa and Vicki from the Mayan Families ..Family Aid program accompanied the parents into the hospital. Elisa speaks Kakchiquel and the parents speak Tzutjil but they understand each other, Vicki, a Canadian, speaks fluent Spanish and was there to check out the hospital and confirm the conditions for the children and what the parents could expect.
Vicki was pleased to report that the hospital was very clean and bright...that there was a play area for the children with toys.
She told me that the nurse that received the children was very gentle and welcoming to the family. The mother and father told the nurse that they love their children very much...that they wanted the nursing staff to know this.
The parents will not be able to visit the children for 2-3 weeks....and after that they will be able to visit every Sunday from 9-11 a.m. I wonder how many parents can actually make this trip. These children who are in this hospital are there because the parents can't afford food....so how are they going to be able to afford the bus fare to get to the city. Many of the parents will be like Maximo and Angelina's parents. ...this is their first time ever to the city...it is very scary for them. Is it possible for many of them to afford to do the trip and to even know how to get there to visit their children ?
Now we are focusing on helping this family. There are two other children in the family who are not as in such a severe state of malnutrition as Maximo and Angelina but they are not far behind. Tomas is 14 years old and weighs 72 lb...his little sister, Ana...7 years old, not only is very underweight but she also suffers from asthma......the parents cannot afford medical care for her.
The parents and the two remaining children are now coming to Mayan Families 5 days a week ...where they can eat and receive medical care. The father is going to start taking classes at the carpentry shop this Monday. We hope that with the father learning a skill, it will give him a chance at being able to work and have an income. Until now the father has only been able to cut coffee and work in the fields. This is often seasonal work and he makes only $3 approx a day.
We need help to be able to help this family.
We need sponsorship for their food for the weeks that they will be at Mayan Families.
We need help to be able to pay for their medical care.
We need help to be able to pay for their transportation to and from the city to visit Maximo and Angelina.
If you can help, with even a little, it will make such a difference to this family.
There is a saying that I have seen attributed to Mother Teresa..." If you can't feed the world...just feed one" This is definitely one family that needs this help.
Donations can be sent to http://mayanfamilies.org/
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