All day long the baby cried, not a sick cry or a need to be held cry, but a cry of hunger. As I listened, my heart broke. What could I do to help? I talked to Baudilio and Eduardo, the two men who live and work here at Mission2Guatemala, and the first thing they said was, "Here, all babies cry like that." I was shocked. Then they explained that because the families here are poorly nourished or malnourished, the moms are not able to produce enough milk or rich enough milk to satisfy their babies. And, so, the babies cry.
All day long, the baby's cries followed me, and at supper, I asked Baudilio if it would be an offense to offer the mom a can of powdered baby formula to supplement the baby's nutrition. He assured me that, no, it would not be taken as an offense.
So, off to town I went and purchased a can of formula and a small bottle. The cost...Q100 or about $13. On the way back home, I started thinking about why the mom wouldn't have already bought some formula. Surely the cries of her newborn are tearing her heart apart.
Then I started to calculate the cost, not in our North American terms, but in the terms of one living here in poverty.
A good daily wage here is Q50, but many make between Q30 - Q40. That is about $5 - $6.50 per day. A good daily wage in Canada is $15/hour for 8 hours/day. That is about $120. The cost of a can of formula (Q80) and a bottle (Q20) is the equivalent of 2 - 3 day's wage. In our language, that translates into between $240 and $360 for a can of formula! We could never afford to supplement our child in Canada at this rate, and...neither can the people here.
It may only be $13 to me, but it is out of reach for the average family living in our area.
I know one can of formula isn't going to end their problems, but my prayer is that they will know today that God loves them; He knows their situation and moves upon His people to help.
Blessings!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment