Everyone Deserves a Fresh and Healthy Start • Agros

When A Young Mother Needed Help, A Healthy Start Was Waiting

Welcoming a new child home should be a joyous occasion. Every child should be welcomed with love into the arms of a mother and the safety and warmth of a home. Yet, for many pregnant women living in extreme poverty, the gift of a child can be scary Often, instead of joy and celebration comes great worry for the health and future of their child.

In the village of Asich in the highlands of Guatemala, you witness extreme poverty and the fear and trauma brought to those living in misery – the misery of hunger, unsafe homes, and no access to basic healthcare. Extreme poverty means a child does not gain weight or grow because of respiratory illness and parasites.

When children suffering from chronic malnutrition is the norm, hope seems very far away.

For women, mothers, and children in Guatemala, the problem of poverty and misery is all too familiar. Consider Maria Sulamita, a seventeen-year-old mother of two who delivered her second daughter in August.

In the photo, you see Maria Sulamita with older daughter, Ana Ashly, at 11 months (now 17 months). Maria is such a young mother. When Ana Ashly was born, she had minimal knowledge of how to properly care for herself, let alone give her daughter who needed proper care and nutrition. Unfortunately, living in a rural and poor area meant that avoiding malnutrition was very difficult and Ana Ashly dealt with chronic childhood malnutrition. Maria Sulamita struggled to keep up with her daughter’s needs. In their region, the chronic childhood malnutrition rater was over 75%, extremely common among children under 5.

Throughout Nicaragua and Guatemala, as many as three out of every four children go hungry every day. There are so many needs to address but few resources to fix the problems they’re facing. Entire families are crowded into one-room shacks. They live on dirt floors with woven mats for beds. Their makeshift tarp roof leaks when it rains. There is often not enough food.

Maria happened to live in the village of Asich, one of four villages assessed in a sixteen-village census taken by Agros. Among these sixteen, the Agros staff was able to select four as the inaugural villages in a new Guatemala-based program. The program is a a multi-layer, proven solution working with families in remote, high-needs villages in the Ixil region of Guatemala. The program tackles the root causes of chronic malnutrition and food insecurity, stopping the sources of illness and infection by focusing on nutrition, health care & education, and entrepreneurial opportunities specifically for women.

Most women in the rural areas do not have the opportunity to work. Instead, they are expected to stay at home and take care of the children and the household chores. But when they are given the opportunity to start their own business and diversify their household income, they are able to thrive.

Phase one and two of the program focus on families living in extreme poverty by working with women and children from pregnancy to five years of age. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are the most critical to their development, but research has shown that 5 years improves the sustainability even more. We also know that supporting women invests not only in families, but in the communities where they live.

For Maria, thanks to this Agros intervention, her second pregnancy was different. Maria was supported by Agros staff, preparing her for another baby while also addressing and reducing her eldest daughter’s chronic malnutrition. Her daughter is already recovering and is on her way to being completely free of chronic malnutrition. Meanwhile, Ana Ashly’s little sister was born at a normal birth weight, and is likely to not be in the chronic malnutrition status since her mom knows how to properly nourish her. They are given weekly opportunities to support their kids with classes, feeding programs, nutrition and food supplements, and more.

These solutions are preparing moms for healthy deliveries with access to prenatal care, preventing hungry kids by providing regular nutritious meals, and ensuring safe homes that are free of hazards like dirt floors. Most importantly, families are receiving hope so that the arrival of a child can be the joyous occasion it should be.

These solutions are starting at a much more strenuous levels than typical families we work with. These families are in extreme poverty, and need more support than has ever been required of Agros staff. But 2+ years in, we’re already seeing incredible results – in numbers, but also in the smiles of confident mothers and families able to properly care for their children for the first time ever.

In recent blogs, we shared the story of Teresa Erika and her progress in the Agros program (click to read). We also highlight her and others in the Annual Report (click to read).

We have so many stories to share but we also have many stories to write. So many more families need your support as they work to break the cycle of poverty. Will you join us on this journey to support these families on their way from poverty to prosperity?

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received”
1 Peter 4:10

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Blessings.

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Mackenzie Cruz

Mackenzie is the Marketing & Communications Officer at Agros International.

She manages all things social media, e-mail, website, brand…you name it! Her professional passion has taken her throughout all kind of industries, but all roads pointed toward her passion for nonprofit work and marketing colliding. || Email her at mackenziec@agros.org