On the second day in the afternoon we went with Olga, the Mayan Families social worker, and Cindy, a volunteer from the USA, to look for a woman that seemed to suffer from Lukemia in another town called Santa Catarina. We hired a van to take us there since we didn't want to ride in the back of a crowded pick up like everybody else does around here. The dresses of the women in that town were very beautiful, they were turquoise and all kinds of blues. They also wore a head ornament.
We went to the school and the director told two girls to guide us to the house. The town starts at the level of the lake and it goes up. There are very narrow streets, in some parts are like stairs and others just rocks. The house we were looking for was way up in the mountain. Titi was tired and she didn't want to walk so I dragged her for some time and then Don carried her for a long time. Poor him, it was a very difficult climb for us since we are not used to it. Carlos didn't have any problem but Olga and Cindy were very tired by the time we got there.
The conditions of the house and the family were horrendous. It was a one room house made of mud bricks with dirt floor, there were flies everywhere. The mother looked very sick but the worst was finding a two year old who had a huge belly and very skiny arms and legs. He was not walking or moving much, he was just sitting there, covered with flies. The mother only spoke Katckiquel, so the 9 year old daughter had to translate for her. There was also a 5 year old boy and a 5 month old baby. The father is away working but when he comes back he only gives them 100 quetzals, approx.
We told the mother we wanted to bring her and the two year old to see a doctor but she said she needed to ask her husband if it was ok to go. He is not in town so it could be a while until he comes back. We went back to Sharon's house and she posted about the family on her blog. We hope to go back to convince the mother to come to the doctor with us.
The mother and the baby.
The entrance to the house
It looked like this was were the mother was cooking.
One of the children, eating a cookie we gave him
This is where the children sleep, on the floor, in the corner of the room. They only had a couple of blankets. They also had one bed where the mother slept with the two year old but it did not have a mattress. They were sleeping in bare wood planks. We brought them some food and the children were very happy.
We had started at the bottom of the mountain.
On the way down
Our two guides with Titi
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