AmeriCares media relations manager Lisa Slow was in Guatemala earlier this year to meet some of the people who benefit from AmeriCares donations in this country. Here is one of her stories:
Campaign Story
It takes at least an hour from the nearest town, traveling on winding and rock-covered dirt roads to get to the health post in the village of Veramina, Guatemala. On this typical Thursday, a long line of pregnant women and toddlers wait patiently to be seen by the doctor-nurse team, who appear once every two weeks to examine patients and offer treatment. It's the only place to seek affordable health care within 40 miles. The Guatemalan government provides the health post with some medications, but it's not enough to treat the numerous cases of malnutrition, respiratory ailments, diarrhea, gynecological problems and skin diseases of the women and children that visit the health post. Thankfully, the doctors receive supplemental medicines donated by AmeriCares.
"These medicines change their lives so much," remarked Dr. Edgar Álvarado, who visits six health posts in various rural communities in the region. "If we didn't have the medicines, we would have to treat these people with natural remedies."
On this day, Alicia, who was eight months pregnant with her sixth child, was suffering from a yeast infection and diarrhea. Dr. Álvarado gave her a topical antibiotic for the infection. He explained that the natural remedy of vinegar and water would have eased her discomfort but not cured the illness. Alicia was accompanied by her one-and-a half year old daughter, also named Alicia, who had been coughing for a few days. Dr. Álvarado examined the little girl and after diagnosing her with the early stages of pneumonia, prescribed an antibiotic and cough medicine provided by AmeriCares.
While the health issues of this mother and daughter seem basic and easily treatable to most of us living in the developed world, they often become serious, even life-threatening illnesses for those in third world countries. In Guatemala, two of the leading causes of death are pneumonia and diarrhea.
Women and children are particularly vulnerable. In Guatemala, where the infant mortality rate is the worst in all of Central America, five times more infants die than in the United States. Nearly six times as many children do not live past the age of five. Most of these deaths are a result of extreme poverty and malnutrition.
Responding to these ongoing needs, AmeriCares has been sending basic medicines and medical supplies to Guatemala for more than 20 years, delivering products such as antibiotics, pain killers, cough medicine, topical creams and latex gloves each month to our longtime partner, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The health post in Veramina that treated Alicia and her daughter is one of nearly 100 such facilities that relies on AmeriCares donations to treat up to 50 patients a day.
Get RSS
