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



Nov 29, 2012

Maria Coroxon





































(A-31) Status: Sponsored as of June 2013!
Needs: food, Onil stove, table,
Previous story about Maria can be found here.
To help, click here. To sponsor Maria for $35 a month, click here.
UPDATE Jan 3, 2013: Maria received a chair and a bed from visiting donors!
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.  

Two tree stumps sit in the middle of Maria's one room. One is her chair, the other is a table. Cords of firewood adorn the far wall, as fuel for the open fire she uses to cook.
While the same scene may pertain to a cowboy, at least he has the power to leave the range if he wants to.
Maria cannot leave her home: a year ago wounds began to fester all over her legs. Her family does not want her to walk, for fear the wounds'll worsen and she'll need to visit a doctor, which they can't afford.
Besides this, she would not go. If she sees a doctor she will cry, or scream, she says.
She might be alright if one came to her house, she says. In the meantime she'll move from sitting patiently on her tree stump to the bed a few steps away.
At 96 she cannot see or hear well anymore, and we talk to her first placing hands on her shoulder, then shouting into her ear.
She says she has what she needs, now: a bed with its mattress, a water filter, a concrete floor. The tables she has are busy though, they are already have things on them. One more chair would be nice, she says, then she wouldn't have to use the tree.

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