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Famine Continues in Eastern Guatemala

Many years of drought have hindered agricultural production in the Chicimula region of Guatemala, reducing the amount of food families have been able to produce for their own consumption as well as the surplus they need to sell in order to purchase other goods and services, such as clothing and medical care. The drought has also reduced employment opportunities since one of the few sources of income for families without land of their own is as day laborers for other farmers.  Children quit school by age ten to help support their families which perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Medical care is unavailable to most due to distance and lack of transportation, but more importantly, inability to pay.  Sick villagers travel miles, often on foot seeking medical care in small clinics in the towns of Jocotan and Camotan, Chicimula. They are diagnosed for free but are unable to pay for treatments and medications so they are sent home empty handed having made the trip for nothing. For this reason many die in their villages having learned that it is not worth the effort to seek help. Severely malnourished children are sometimes kept at the health center in Jocotan for re-nourishment, but  are later sent home to face the same lack of food that caused their severe malnutrition.

For those with life threatening illnesses there is a public hospital in Chicimula that provides care free of charge, but the care is grossly inadequate. Children frequently die in the hospital’s care of diarrhea and dehydration, pneumonia and other curable illnesses because of a lack of equipment and medications. There are no nebulizers, too few oxygen units, and insufficient supplies of  antibiotics. During a recent visit to admit two severely ill children, OWH leaders learned that two children had died the day before and one had died that morning of common curable illnesses. And many others where facing imminent death. OWH volunteers spent the rest of that day traveling from pharmacy to pharmacy purchasing medications for the hospital.   

As the director of the Chicimula Public Hospital gave us a tour, the inadequacies became even more unsettling. Mothers and babies are frequently lost in pregnancy and child birth because of the lack of lab and ultrasound equipment for the early detection of complications. Lack of funding leads to understaffing, inadequate supplies of lifesaving medications, antiquated equipment, sanitation and sterilization issues, over-crowding, and general disrepair. Our experience with the small clinics in Jocotan and Camotan and the public hospital in Chicimula has led us to the realization  that mortality rates among adults and children of this population could be greatly reduced by making basic medical care available and affordable. This has therefore become a goal for 2007.

The Virtual Village Project

The Outreach for World Hope Virtual Village is a child sponsorship program by which severely starved children are identified, placed in a nutritional rehabilitation center for thirty days, and then returned to their homes where they continue to receive food, vitamins and medical care each month and have hope for a brighter future through education. Since OWH began its Virtual Village child sponsorship project in November of 2006, sixty families with severely starved children, or roughly 300 people have been enrolled. The children are thriving and many of them are barely recognizable due to the major improvements in their health and growth. The child mortality rate for children within the village is less than 1% as compared to rates as high as 33% in villages of the general population in Eastern Guatemala.

It was expected that because of the family selection criteria for admittance into the Virtual Village (at least one child in code red stage severe malnutrition) the child mortality rate would be higher for Virtual Village children, than for the general population. This was not the case.  The only mortality among Virtual Village children during the first year was the death of a premature triplet that weighed only two pounds at birth. His brother and sister are thriving because of the formula supply they are receiving from the Virtual Village project. We are especially pleased with the low child mortality rate experienced by Virtual Village members in light of the fact that malnutrition weakens the body’s defenses against illness and many were found with serious health issues such as severe dehydration due to diarrhea,  pneumonia,  malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatomegaly upon admission into the program. All received treatment for medical problems associated with or in addition to prolonged malnutrition.

In 2007 we plan to double the number of families in the Virtual Village and to continue to raise sufficient funding to accept children at risk of imminent starvation and care for them until permanent sponsors can be found.  

Improvements in Medical Care.

Through its past projects in Nicaragua, OWH leaders have had the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience from a ministry called Provadenic, whose mission is to empower village leaders to provide basic health care within the villages. Nicaragua and Guatemala share similar topography and population distribution.  Indigenous populations often live very far from urban areas and in mountains without road access. Therefore lack of transportation is a major factor contributing to lack of health care access. The Provadenic Ministry has been successful in reducing child mortality rates by 70 percent over four years in villages that have trained health promoters living within them. These health promoters are village residents who receive 40 hours of training based on a comprehensive textbook covering first aid and CPR,  prenatal care and child birthing, malnutrition signs and symptoms, the diagnosis and  treatment of basic common illnesses, and the indications that hospitalization is imperative. The health promoters are equipped with basic tools for measuring vital signs, a supply of common over the counter medications as well as antibiotics, and first aid supplies. A doctor or certified nurse supervises the health promoters and visits each village on a monthly basis.

OWH plans replicate the Provadenic model in Chicmula, Guatemala, learning from and building upon what has been accomplished in Nicaragua. Our program will begin in January of 2007 with the training of six health promoters for villages with which we have already established working relationships. Villages will be added as the project progresses.

Other health care goals include provision of specialized medical care by way of private hospital  in critical cases when lives are at risk and care is needed beyond what the public hospital can offer, the provision of antibiotics, medical equipment, and other needed items to improve the quality of care in the public hospital, and medical field days to provide free medical care in villages with no access to health care.  A budget for the medical projects of 2007 is attached.     

Education & Agriculture as sustainable pathways out of poverty

Education- School aged children of families in the Virtual Village will be required to provide evidence that they are attending school on a regular basis until they reach sixth grade. Although completion of sixth grade is generally considered a good education in this culture, scholarships will be made available to all children wishing to continue on to secondary education.

OWH is partnering with the mayors of three municipalities of Eastern Guatemala to improve education for all children of the region. In 2006 Outreach for World Hope donated ten computers to local schools and helped to open a computer lab by which children can learn skills that will lead to employment.  OWH has also provided four hundred desks to seven schools with no furniture or supplies. Short term mission teams facilitated the delivery of hundreds of pounds of schools supplies which were distributed among the seven schools. Outreach for World Hope plans to continue to provide desks, computers, and school supplies in 2007.

Agriculture-For the foreseeable future it will continue to be necessary to provide food to save lives currently at risk. However, our long term goal for the people of the Eastern Guatemala is self sufficiency. Improvements in the agricultural output of the region will improve the nutritional status of the children and the economic status of the families.  The primary focus of the OWH agricultural projects for 2006 was to evaluate new, improved cultivars of beans, cowpeas, maize, sorghum, and tomatoes and to establish a working relationship with local growers.  Improved beans were obtained from Dr. Juan Carlos Rosas at Zomorano, Honduras as part of the USAID Bean/Cowpea CRSP program (three advanced breeding lines), and from Ing. Julio Cesar Villatoro and Fernando Aldana at ICTA (Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícolas, Guatemala) (five breeding lines). 

Cowpeas where chosen as a subject of our experiments because they are similar to traditional Guatemala black beans, but are more drought tolerant,   and have not been evaluated in this part of Guatemala.  Seven breeding lines of cowpeas were obtained from Dr. Jeffrey Ehlers, University of California-Riverside as part of the USAID Bean/Cowpea CRSP program.  Three improved sorghum lines were supplied by Rene Clara from the USAID Sorghum/Millet (INSORMIL) CRSP project in El Salvador.  Maize germplasm (five breeding lines) was obtained from Ing. Jose Luis Zea at ICTA, Guatemala.  Geminivirus-resistant tomatoes were obtained via a USAID CDR  project for breeding for virus resistance in tomatoes in Guatemala.  The tomato seedlings (two hybrids) were provided by GenTropic Seeds, S. A., Antigua, Guatemala.  Growers provided the local seeds. 

In April of 2006, Dr Luis Mejia of San Carlos University, Guatemala and Dr. Douglas Maxwell of the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, met in Jocotan, Guatemala with representatives of ICTA, the Sorghum/Millet CRSP, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations) and four representatives of the indigenous Mayan communities.  During this meeting, the options for the germplasm trials were discussed and evaluated.  Community leaders volunteered to be responsible for interaction with OWH and to assist with the experimental plot work.  Land for two plots was rented and local growers provided labor and oversight.  OWH provided improved germplasm, and funds for fertilizer and pesticides.  Tomatoes were planted in one plot by a local grower.  The other germplasm was planted in replicated plots at each of two locations in late May 2006.

The tomatoes were harvested starting in mid-July and the harvest was finished by mid-August.  The local grower was very pleased as he harvested fifty boxes of tomatoes from about one tenth of a hectare, which is the most he had ever harvested.  He attributed the success to the geminivirus-resistant hybrid, and he requested more tomatoes for planting in the fall of 2006.  The best hybrid was Llanero, a new hybrid, which is just being made available to growers in the fall of 2006.  From this small plot, the grower had a profit of about $200, a very large quantity of money for a grower in this region. We consider this to be an important accomplishment, as these tomatoes seedlings can be made available to other growers in the region and will improve their economic situations.

The two plots for the other germplasm were visited in August 2006 and an assessment was made for the beans and cowpeas, which had reached maturity.  Unfortunately, the cowpeas in one plot had been consumed by leaf cutter ants.  In the other plot, the grower was extremely pleased with one cowpea line (IT95K-1105-5). Two bean lines were selected by the grower (Aifi and PRF), which had come from the Bean/Cowpea CRSP program at Zomorano, Honduras. The grower was very impressed with the growth of the sorghum.  Evaluation of the sorghum will be done by Rene Clara from the Sorghum/Millet CRSP program in Salvador in October/November.  The maize will also be evaluated at this time.

In addition to the agricultural experiments three hundred fruit trees were provided and planted, two per family of the following varieties: avocado, mango, orange and lime.  The fruit of these trees will add calories and vitamins to the families’ diets but will also provide surplus fruit which can be sold to purchase other needed items.  These trees have already proven to be hearty enough for the conditions and climate but are usually found only in large groves owned by the wealthiest growers.

Agriculture Plans for 2007 include two plots at the same locations as used in 2006 for continued experimentation with sorghum, maize, beans, cowpeas, and tomatoes.  For each crop the improved lines will be compared with the local lines The maize line, ICTA B7, will be purchased from ICTA.  Sorghum lines will be provided by Sorghum/Millet CRSP project.

Five hundred fruit trees will be provided (2 per family), to families currently at risk of starvation. A budget for the 2007 agricultural projects is attached.

Making a difference

Upon beginning the Hope for the Hungry, Virtual Village project in November of 2005, the Outreach for World Hope Board of Directors developed a plan for measuring the outcome of the program. Upon admission into the Virtual Village project children are weighed and evaluated medically so that progress can be measured. Statistical data regarding child mortality rates of Virtual Village children are compared with child mortality rates of the general population. As mentioned previously only one child, a premature triplet, has been lost out of the Virtual Village population so far, which based on child mortality statistics for the region, indicates that lives are being saved. It is difficult to quantify the improvements that have been made in the lives of thousands of people in 2006  by way of general food and vitamin distributions, worms and parasite treatment, medical care, agricultural projects, educational improvements and the hope that comes from the experience of God’s love as demonstrated by His people.

The most exciting outcomes assessment information that we can offer our supporters is in the form of before and after photos of the Virtual Village children, showing the dramatic change in their appearance after just a few months in the program. We thank God for the successes we have enjoyed and for the encouragement and financial backing of our supporters. We hope you will continue to partner with us as we begin another exciting year providing “Hope for the Hungry” in Eastern Guatemala.   

Drs. Mejia and Maxwell (below) are working with local growers  to identify productive and drought tolerant crops which will increase the agricultural output of the region. 

Outreach For World Hope wishes to thank Trisha Timmerman for the outstanding job she did as a volunteer for the Hope for the Hungry project in Jocotan, Guatemala during the month of June, 2006. Trisha recently graduated from the of U.W. LaCrosse with a Social Work major. She then spent a month serving in the communities of Jocotan and Camotan to share love and faith and to advance the work of the ministry. Her activities included visiting remote villages to identify and hospitalize malnourished children, doing crafts and activities with women and children, assisting with the care of malnourished children in the small overcrowded center for nutritional rehabilitation and strengthening friendships and opening doors for the ministry.

Trisha served the poor tirelessly with generosity and compassion and handled challenges with courage and faith. We couldn't be more proud of her and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Thank you Trisha!