By: Whitney Saulton
“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.” -William Wilberforce
Today was Yennifer’s “going home” day. As morbid as this may sound, I never thought we would see this day.
I remember vividly the day she was brought in. I wasn’t even sure she was alive at first. She was 6 years old and only weighed 9 pounds. “How is this even possible?” I thought to myself.
Her skin was dry and flaking off in areas, her pulse was thready and beating at 38 beats per minute, her breathing slow and still. I choked back my own tears as we undressed her to do a full assessment. She didn’t stir, she didn’t fight, she didn’t even wince. She was much too weak for any of that.
Her mom stood across the room, watching our every movement and choking back tears herself.
This was taken nearly 2 weeks after she came to us. She had gained about 6 pounds at this point.
But this is the story of rural Guatemala. This is the story of hundreds or maybe even thousands of children that are stuck in a life of famine. Already impoverished areas are struggling to find food because of the drought.
I once visited a home and saw four children waiting patiently at a table. “What are you waiting for?” I asked them. “We are waiting for breakfast.” I looked at my watch. It was 11:45, nearly time for lunch. There was no fire built to cook and their mother sat on a hammock, desperately trying to squeeze out another drop of milk to her starving baby. I asked them what they had eaten yesterday. “A tortilla with some salt,” the oldest boy spoke up, realizing that he would be lucky to receive the same meal today.
It’s hard to change the demographics of an entire country, but we sure can try. And it starts one child at a time, no matter how sick, no matter how hopeless.
This is our reality here in these remote mountains. Please pray for Guatemala and Hope of Life.