Urgent News
A little over a month ago, Brenda was very concerned because her 9 year old daughter, Daniela was very pale and tired.
She took her to a doctor and there started a parent's nightmare.
Daniela was diagnosed with Leukemia.
Daniela's father, Daniel, 39 years old, collects fares on the buses.
He earns $6 US per day.
He sometimes has work all week, other times, just for two days.
The family lives in a rented house in Solola.
They pay $60 per month.
The mother , Brenda worked in a local restaurant washing dishes and cleaning tables.
She earned $3 US per day.
She was only able to get work 3 times a week.
Her Mother- in - law lives with them and she minded the children when Brenda was working.
The mother-in-law is 76 years old...and has a hernia....it was difficult for her to look after 2 young active children.
Brenda is not in good health, she has been diagnosed with cysts in her ovaries.
She is 30 years old and has more on her plate than most people ever need.
For one month , Brenda has been in the hospital at her daughter's side.
She is sleeping on the cold floor of the hospital , on just a blanket that she brought with her.
Daniela is receiving free treatment from the hospital.
She is receiving chemotherapy.
The hospital gives all food to Daniela for free.
But the mother has to buy her food.
This is very expensive for the mother. Some days she can only afford to eat once a day.
Her husband tries to come and visit as much as possible but he has to pay bus fare to the city which costs
approx. $10 per trip for him to go to visit. He also needs to be able to buy his food ...and he has to find a cheap room to
be able to stay overnight ...the hospital does not allow more than one parent there at a time.
Combined with trying to pay for the bus fares, the food, the renting of a cheap room to stay over, the father also has to find money to
pay the rent, the electricity and food for his mother and two children, Marcotulio 5 years and Harold 3 years old.
Brenda has to stay one month more in the hospital.
Then Brenda has to stay in the city, close to the hospital so that she can receive treatment..
This is a huge worry for the mother as she does not know anyone in the city and she does not have the money to rent a room.
While the mother is sitting here telling me her story ...her 3 year old begins crying......he is hungry...he had breakfast this morning, tortillas with salt and has not
had anything more to eat. Fortunately, I had a bag of 6 chipolin tamales that I gave them. None of the family had eaten since this morning.
The children are often going hungry....Brenda is so sad as she tells this but she says there is nothing that she can do...there is no money.
Brenda had a stroke 10 years ago, now her right hand side of her body where she had the stroke before is painful...she can hardly walk ...she is limping and says that
sleeping on the cold floor at the hospital is causing her a lot of pain in her body. She is extremely stressed as you can imagine anyone would be in this situation but she has the problem that she doesn't even have the bus fare to get back to the city tomorrow. She is not worried about having food for herself but she is very worried for her two little ones as they are going hungry so many days. This is the first time that she has been able to come home in one month ....she is hoping that she may get one days work at the restaurant tomorrow to be able to pay her fare but her body is so painful it is doubtful that she will be able to stand to wash dishes.
The family is asking for help to get them through this terrible time.
The hospital is now asking that they bring in 12 donors to give blood as Daniela needs to receive blood transfusions.
In Guatemala , people do not usually donate blood. It has to be purchased, you have to pay a donor to go to the hospital and give blood.
It costs approx $50 including paying their bus fare to the city and to pay the lunch for each person to go .
This is an impossible amount for this family.
If you an help them with any small amount to help the mother get back to the hospital .....and to help her to have some food for her family, it would be so very much appreciated.
Sharon
www.mayanfamilies.org
20 years ago, Francisca was diagnosed with diabetes. Having received very little information on her disease from the doctors, her life did not seem greatly affected by this revelation, until 3 years ago when 60-year-old Francisca was told she needs insulin injections to control her glucose levels.Since then, she has suffered from numerous health complications due to her financial inability to take this medication daily. Two years ago she went blind. She was given medication to deal with this issue, but it only helped abate the problem, her vision remaining cloudy to this day. When her blood sugar is too high, she experiences debilitating headaches. Worst of all, for the past few months she has been battling with gangrene on her right foot. In February, she went to the hospital to get her toe checked out. The doctors gave her antibiotics and kept her under surveillance for 16 days. At the end of her hospitalization, the doctors told her she was fine, but it wasn't long before the unhealthy color and discomfort returned. Francisca has been attending the Mayan Families Diabetes Club for months. Thanks to the information our club supplies and our doctor's advice, Francisca was able to determine that she is in need of help. She has been working hard to control her glucose levels, but buying insulin has not been easy for her. She lives alone with her 24-year-old unemployed daughter in a one room house. At times they struggle to buy food, turning insulin into an expendable luxury that she can only afford on occasion. If you would like to help provide Francisca with the help she needs, please go to Donate Now and scroll down. In the Other $ section, insert the amount of your donation. In the Details box, write D-59 Francisca Medical Aid. She is in desperate need of seeing a private doctor as soon as possible so that she can save her toe! You can also provide her with a vile of insulin for $15 US. Using this essential medication consistently will make it less likely that this will happen to her again. If you would like to help Mayan Families continue to support this ignored population, please consider donating to our Diabetes Club. Thank you!
This week a young mother from a nearby village of Santa Catarina came
to the office....she has a child approx. 3 years old...another one who
is 14 months old and she is 5 months pregnant.Her mission
coming to our office was to find out if anyone would like to adopt the
child she was pregnant with. She is living in a very dangerous situation
with her husband who is very physically abusive. She can no longer take
living with him and fears for her life and the safety of her children.
She was very desperate when she came to talk to us.
She had gone to see her parents and asked if she could move back
home with them. Her father told her that she could not come home
bringing this new baby. ...that she had to give it away.Gloria,
the Mayan Families staff manager, called the mother in and talked to
her. The mother is in agreement to have the daughter come back home
...and not give the baby away and she feels that she can convince the
father....but that they cannot afford to feed the daughter and the
children.
On Friday, we helped the young mother move her very small amount of possessions back into her parents very small home.
This
family does not have a FA number but our hope for them is that we will
be able to find a sponsor/s who will be willing to help with food for
the family...even if it is only $60 a month....and help with the
medical check ups for the mother while she is pregnant.
The mother of this woman feels that her husband will
not insist on the daughter giving up her baby...if we can provide food
for the daughter and the children. If you can help or know of anyone who would want to help this family, please let us know.
Thanks,SharonSharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIESa registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity