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Martina, desperate for help, at two months old with her mother |
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At seven months, Martina has gained weight thanks to the assistance her mother received from Curamericas Guatemala |
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MARTINA ANDRES' STORY
Patti and Alma, two of our nurses in Guatemala, were out in the community making regular home health visits. Upon arrival at the Andres' home, they learned that a baby girl, Martina, had been born two months earlier. The infant currently weighed only four pounds and was obviously dying of malnutrition. The mother, Maria, was desperate for help. Quickly, Alma and Patti began teaching Maria how to properly feed her child. Maria was eager to learn and dedicated to her baby. Like all of us, she wanted her child to live and was willing to do whatever it took to save her. Martina (pictured above) not only lived but is thriving. The lessons learned by this family will be applied to their other children and others in their community.
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Guatemala has the third highest infant and child mortality rates in the Western Hemisphere. Curamericas-Guatemala's program is located in the Department of Huehuetenango, a remote area in the mountains frequently called the "Triangle of Death" because it has the highest infant mortality and malnutrition rates in the country. Within our project area, 68% of children under the age of 3 are malnourished and 1 in 250 pregnancies result in death (in the US the rate is 1 in 12,500). But through the staff's dedication, today almost 90% of the children have received lifesaving vaccinations and we have completed the construction of the first health clinic in the area. |
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A typical home in our project site in northwestern Guatemala
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