Suyapa take a look at Ingrid's delicate condition
As we move farther into the beautiful mountains of Santa Barbara, (located in Northwestern Honduras) I can’t help but admire the natural beauty of this place;
For over half a century, the Pan American Health Service has been devoted entirely to the physical and spiritual care of children in Honduras. Our physical focus is specifically for children afflicted with malnutrition. This disease is a pathological condition that is the result of lack of food intake and excess metabolic expenditure. The end result is the physical consequence of starvation.
Our goal is also to address their spiritual malnutrition. We have to feed the spiritual needs of these children nuturing them as if they were a part of our own family members. Our goal is to instill in them the importance of giving their lives to Christ and trusting Him with their burdens. As Christian believers, we have witnessed many miracles to the glory of God.
I have become aware of a book entitled, “At Jesus’ Feet: The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene,” written by Pastor Doug Batchelor. In this book he makes some statements that there is an ignorance of the young people concerning the Scriptures in our churches, Christian church schools, and other institutions. I do not believe that his research stated in the book is totally accurate. His conclusion was that many of the children surveyed were not well instructed on basic essentials of the Bible. His claims are that the church leaders at our institutions are not teaching our SDA doctrinal teachings adequately to the future generations. His conclusions are based on some illogical answers given by some students with overactive imaginations in the research surveys. The point I would like to emphasize is that, with God’s help and much time and effort, these young people have been taught spiritual concepts and devotion to their Creator. I believe that most of them do have the knowledge and the ability to answer the questions correctly. Unfortunately many of the children living in these institutions have suffered misfortune, and traumatic experiences at a young age. But, praise God! many of them have experienced a positive changes in their lives after accepting Jesus into their hearts. It is very rewarding to see these children of God recover from their spiritual malnutrition.
The Honduras government is on alert due to the dengue epidemic that has been driving down the country in recent months.
The numbers of people infected with this disease surged in recent weeks due to constant rains that have hit these days have helped to increase the deadly mosquito breeding sites.
Hospitals are overcrowded, and many have no quota to meet sick people who come from various parts of the country. In the department of Colón, one of the most affected, 60% of the population is suspected of having dengue, and this means that six of every ten people have symptoms of dengue. So far 43 Hondurans have lost their lives due to dengue hemorrhagic fever, deadly variation of the disease. In addition, the Hospital Escuela, in the capital reported 1025 suspected cases of dengue hemorrhagic weekly. Meanwhile, the number of people infected by common dengue is 33, 628 throughout the country.
In PAHS, we have taken steps to prevent the spread of the vector, keeping clean our gardens and monitor the campus to prevent the formation of breeding of these mosquitoes. Community authorities were also part of the campaign against dengue and went to spray the town and surrounding communities. We hope in God not being affected by this epidemic.
“Mommy, where’s my dad?” It’s the question that day by day five-year-old Max asks his mother Lola, one of the 15 single mothers who seeks refuge at PAHS. Lola simply evades her son’s question and changes the subject. Just like she did, her children are growing up without knowing their father. Four decades ago, at the age of two, Lola came to our children’s home. She was not malnourished or sick, but her mother did not have the resources to sustain her. Lola was always characterized as a devout and responsible lady. She finished her high school and received the opportunity to study at Unadeca, the Adventist University of Central America located in Costa Rica. She spent a year studying nursing; however, the “bad decisions” that she made occasioned that she abandon college. Years later, she bore her first son, Elden, who is now 14 years of age, and then she had Max. Both children have different fathers whom they do not know. The bad decisions that Lola made when she left the university has made her carry the responsibility of raising two young children, without work and without financial resources.
Lola sees the need to seek assistance for her children from the same institution that she grew up at and that gave her many chances. “When you have the responsibility of raising children alone it is difficult because you have to play the role of mom and dad, and you had to work hard to provide education. I prayed to God, and He enlightened me to return to this place,” says Lola. Elden, her eldest son, is now in seventh grade and is happy to be able to receive education, and Max will start school next year. Lola is considering a sewing course at the Technical School. Along with her son Elden, Lola was re-baptized, and they are now active members of our church.
However, there is one more factor added to the complication of becoming a single mother. Although Lola was 27 when she had her first child, there are many young girls that become single mothers at as young as fourteen years old. The statistics show that of every 1,000 pregnant women in the country, 140 are teenagers. Such is the case with *Maria, who at age 16 became pregnant. This was the same year that she was to graduate from high school. She hid her pregnancy for four months and managed to finish school. She is an intelligent young woman who was highly likely to achieve her dreams and is much appreciated by everyone at our institution, but the birth of her son changed her plans. Three years have passed and in this time she has had to overcome many obstacles; Maria lost her scholarship to study and now she has to work to provide support for her son. She is aware that the bad decisions that she made as a teenager are affecting her life. Unfortunately, this is the reality of many young girls in Honduras. Despite having the opportunity to be successful in life, many continue making bad decisions.
Maria Suyapa
How many Suyapas are outside there?
When she was two years old, our Suyapa had the appearance of a six month old baby. She did not speak or walk and she could not eat by herself. She looked extremely thin; her case is one of the most serious in our hospital ward. When we realize how dreadful malnutrition can be, we simply asked ourselves, why? How can this happen? , It is probably the negligence of both the parents and the society. Is it our country, Honduras; that faces the problems? Suyapa almost died because she did not have milk on a daily basis. And the questions continue to come. Cases like Suyapa´s are frequent to our staff. We need a regular education program for parents, and for responsible leaders of each town. We need to teach cooking classes and sponsor programs for gardening. We have to do all we can to be helpful for society. The innocent children are not the guilty once. One of our objectives is to fight against the malnutrition in Honduras, and stop the unnecessary death march. It is estimated that fifty children in Honduras died each day from malnutrition.
Rosita
Is enough to observe her little smile and her beautiful eyes to feel that you love her, she is a sweet and beautiful girl who arrived at PAHS three years ago, with only 14 months of age, finding in our institution her new home, she is Rosalinda Pineda.
To Rosita, life has taught her really hard lessons since she was a baby, first she lost her sister, three years ago, because of the malnutrition, she died the day before that personal of PAHS arrived to her community, she did not have the opportunity that Rosita had to recovery. The center of health of the community of San Antonio, place where the family lived, communicated with PAHS to ask for aid for the older sister of Rosalinda, nevertheless her state health was very serious and she died before we could arrive at the community, but Rosita, that seemed was destined to suffer the same fate, if she did not receive immediate medical attention, had the blessing to recover her health. Then, another tragedy for the baby, her father died and the abandoned mother does not have to whom to resort reason why is maintained to itself gathering sweepings in the streets.
Rosita does not have a stable home to go, that is the reason for her remain in PAHS, the place that has become in her new home, the only home that she knows, and it will continue being while it allows it to God. Thanks to the will of our God, Rosita is now five years old, the same age that had her older sister when she died by malnutrition. But the destiny of Rosita has been different, doubtless God has very special plans for her. Rosita will attend to the kinder garden the next year, and from now she is really excited for going to school.
Wendy Now And Then
By Nelly Leiva*
I still remember the first day I saw her, it was two years ago. She was nine years old. And what called my attention at that time was her big smile. She looked very happy although she did not have any hair it has fallen up because of her malnutrition. Wendy´s family brought her to Pan-American Health Service because of her heath. Wendy´s interest was to study, she refuse to go home with her family because she wanted education. She had been denied going to school.
Ramoncito
Even when he is three years old, little Ramon had to be taken part of a surgery attach to parasitism. He had abdominal surgery a month ago in a publical hospital, parasites (amoeba,) were causing an obstruction, nevertheless Ramoncito could not remain in the hospital for his recovery, and his father, desperate, went in search of aid for the recovery of his son, who besides suffering parasitism was severely undernourished. The boy came to PAHS three weeks ago, with a second degree malnutrition. Ramon can not speak or walk, because of his undernourishment, but he just start to eat by himself, and repeat words.
His father comes to visit him every once in a while. Let´s pray for Ramoncito´s recovery and for all the children in PAHS. Thanks.
Arnold Smiling
Arnold is considered like the older brother in the great family of “la casita feliz”, even when he is ten years old, he looks like a five year old, deep rings under the eyes are even seen in his face because of his anemia, this was probably because he used to eat dirt and that probably caused his malnutrition. He is the older brother of four, the three younger ones are girls. Their father was killed two years ago, and their mother had to look for money to buy food. She comes every Sunday to visit her son, “Arnold really helped at home, and they miss him a lot but they want him to recover. They live in a community near to Peña Blanca, called Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, Arnold is enjoying his time in PAHS with the other children, and soon he will be able to return to the care of his family.
You can write to us at:
Pan American Health Service , Inc.
PO Box 888
Keene, Texas 76059