Elderly Info

The food crisis in Guatemala is having a devastating effect on the elderly. Without enough to eat, many older people are becoming weak and malnourished, leaving them more vulnerable to illnesses that they cannot afford medical care for. They are unable to provide for even their most basic needs. In many cases, family members are unable to help as they struggle to feed themselves and their own children, leaving the elderly without any form of support and often living in heartbreaking conditions.

Please help us bring them the life-sustaining food and medical care that they so desperately need. General donations are used to ensure that we always have an adequate supply of food, medicine, and funds for meals, necessary medical treatment, and transportation. Monthly sponsorship would help feed one person, once a day for five days a week. Via blog and web album, we'll show you exactly where your aid is going and help you get to know the men and women whose lives you are changing.

If you would like to sponsor an elderly person for $35 a month, please click here and write "monthly sponsorship'' in the Other box. To make a one-time donation for medicine, rent, or other costs, please click here and enter "Elderly Care Program" in the Other box. Any questions can be directed to Amy at amy@mayanfamilies.org


Media on Mayan Families Elderly

Book:
Ancianos : Megan Gette + photos by Rob Bain, Nisa East, Rhett Hammerton and Hiroko Tanaka

Videos:
Mayan Families- Ancianos Stories : Nisa East

Mayan Families Elderly Feeding Care Program : Rhett Hammerton

Facing Hunger: Elderly in Rural Guatemala



Oct 25, 2012

Juana Buch Chumil




































Juana's eye began to whiten, clouding so there was no light.
She went to a doctor, who hemmed and hawed.
He said I will charge you more than you have to save your eye.
She did not have the money to save her eye. The eye closed.
Now she sees with just the one; a white cloud is beginning to form over the color.


(A-47) Status: Sponsored as of March 20, 2013! Thank you!
Needs: food assistance (apart from lunch,) chairs, table, mattress, electricity, ceiling repairs
To help, click here.
For more stories and photos of the ancianos in the Feeding Program, please consider purchasing a book compiled of our participants. All profits go to the Elderly. You can preview the book here.  
UPDATE June 19, 2013:

Her two adolescent grandchildren and one daughter are living with Juana in the small space. Juana shares a bed with the granddaughter; they prop it up with a board because it is broken, and they have no mattress on the bed. Juana has been vomiting and experiencing dizziness. She is taking medications for colic.
Because it is now the rainy season, and because their roof is ill-constructed lamina, water is entering the house. They have hung a small tarp between the bed and ceiling so the bed will not get soaked, but this does not help much. The dirt floors turn to mud when this happens.
Despite her age, poor eyesight and other health issues, Juana is the only one making an income in the house, as her son-in-law left the family. He sends money occasionally, but Juana's weaving, which she sells in the market, is what sustains them. 



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