Stories from La Colonia

Children from Bella Vista

I love this picture!

It has been a good first month in Honduras; learning about the clinic, Roatán, and how to best serve the people on the Island with the resources available. I'm sure it will continue to be a constant learning process and one that requires patience when working within another culture. The article about the promotora program in the local magazine, The Voice, was published last week!! I’m hoping to post it soon, but I’m not quite sure if it will work. We shall see!

We've had joyful times this past month but also some sadness. Mrs. Flor, promotora in Bella Vista, told me at our last meeting that Jessica has gained three pounds and is full of smiles. If you remember Jessica from my last entry, she is a malnourished little girl from the Colonia, whose mother brought her and her siblings into the clinic after we visited their home in Bella Vista. The children were sent home with vitamins, anti-parasite medications, and a sack of food. Thanks to the promotora program, Mrs. Flor will be able to keep a close eye on Jessica and her family.

 

Sadly, we had a two year old boy, weighing only 13 pounds, who passed away two weeks ago. He was severely malnourished and had an extremely high number of intestinal parasites. As you can imagine, like most Latino children, he once had beautiful dark hair, but his hair had already started turning blonde; a sign of severe malnutrition. This poor little boy had no muscle tone or fat to his body; moaning and grimacing with every little movement. It was difficult to see him suffering. He was brought to our attention by a promotora that week. We delivered food and medications to him and his young mother just days before she brought him into the clinic. He had been hospitalized in Roatan’s public hospital late this summer for diarrhea, among other issues I’m sure. Many young children and adults suffer from parasites in the Colonia due to poor living conditions. As previously mentioned, the Colonia does not have any running water which makes sanitation a HUGE problem.

In Roatán, many children are at risk for malnutrition around one or two years old, when the child is no longer breastfeeding. Milk and formula are expensive, so we often find children drinking Fanta (soda) in their bottles because it can be cheaper than buying clean, drinkable water. We educate these families about not giving their children soda, most especially the young ones, when brain development is most critical. Some families know it’s not good, but can’t afford anything else and most everyone needs education on proper nutrition and development. You might think that these women should know not to give their children soda, but many women have their first child in the teens and may never have attended and/or completed elementary school. They begin parenting at a very young age and have limited or no educational resources.

By the time the little boy was brought into the clinic and even with the wonderful Pediatricians we had working at that time, he passed away the next day. As heart-wrenching and tragic as this story is, this is a reality for people suffering from poverty. It is our hope that with the promotora program we can help educate adults, within the Colonias, to identify at risk individuals much sooner than when we met this little boy so we can give them the assistance they need. I have a lot of hope for this program. These women are proud to be health care advocates for their families and communities because they realize that despite all the obstacles, it is possible to make a difference.