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



May 10, 2013

Maria Germana





































(A-11) Status: Sponsored for medicine
Needs: Meal sponsorship, water filter
To help: www.mayanfamilies.org/donatenow "A-11 [write needs, sponsorship etc.]"
To sponsor her for meals at $35 a month, visit: http://mayanfamilies.org/DonateMonthly.aspx
A previous story about Maria and her blind son, Victor, can be found 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

"Some 30 years ago, he woke up dead in a field," Maria talks of her late spouse, "he'd drunk himself to death. He'd had a good job working construction, even made friends with his American boss, who promised him a piece of land. They searched and searched. We were so happy when they found something we could afford. But the American made the deed in my daughter's name, not mine, and when my husband died it went to her. So. I have nothing. I have this bed from Mayan Families, the closet from someone else, and between the two a little space to walk. There's no real room to put anything else. I've suffered a lot, but asi es la vida, como una sufre." 
This is life. How one suffers.
She had seven children, and lives in her son's house with his wife and three daughters. Three women share a small bed. The others have all but abandoned their mother. Those living on the other piece of land manage a small store selling second-hand clothing from the US, caring for their own large families.
She takes medicine for high blood pressure and she feels the onset of arthritis. But what does one do? She says, only God knows.


1 comment:

  1. How is Maria Germana doing? Is she still being sponsored? Thank you.

    ReplyDelete