Constrained by poverty and geography, the Gonzales children face the constant threats of hunger and illness. World Vision is working in their community, providing education and assistance to help families overcome these obstacles.

April 2009

By Andrea Peer and Jessie Lester, World Vision U.S.

Amabilia Gonzales has one wish for her six children, ages 8 months to 14 years: “I hope that they grow healthy. I want them to be healthy,” she says. It’s a basic wish that most mothers share, but in rural Honduras, where poverty, hunger, and disease are constant threats, it often seems impossible.

No money for food

Amabilia and her husband, Nicacio Vasquez, depend on seasonal work and temporary jobs. “It’s difficult to find jobs,” says Amabilia. “We find jobs in the lands of the rich, picking people’s coffee. Right now, there’s no coffee.”

No coffee to pick means no money for food. “We just eat twice a day, and it’s the same meal every time,” says 12-year-old Lidia, as she watches her grandmother cook corn tortillas. The family eats tortillas and beans for both breakfast and dinner, because they don’t have anything else. When they run out of beans, Lidia gets only five small tortillas at each meal.

Tortillas may take the edge off the hunger, but they do not provide the nutrients necessary for growing children like Lidia and her siblings to stay healthy. All six of the Gonzales children are underweight, and a World Vision worker recently identified them as malnourished.

“Sometimes they get sick and lose weight,” says Amabilia. “I get worried because the [World Vision] facilitator tells us that the kids are supposed to be gaining weight, not losing weight.” World Vision is working to address Amabilia’s concerns by providing her family with beans, rice, vegetable oil, and a highly nutritious corn-soy blend flour, designed to help her children recover from malnutrition.

Threatened by illness

But malnourishment is not the only thing that causes Amabilia to worry about her children’s health. Often, their weight loss is accompanied by fevers, a sign of other serious illnesses. “Sometimes, kids in the community have died because of fever,” says Amabilia. “Yes, I worry. I look for a local plant that helps them get better. I mix it with water and [have them] drink it.”

It’s a desperate and usually unsuccessful attempt to cure her children. What’s worse, the water Amabilia uses for this medicine is likely contributing to her children’s poor health. Several of Amabilia’s children, including Rosbin, her 4-year-old son, have large, inflated stomachs. “It hurts,” he says, rubbing his belly. Contaminated water can cause worms, diarrhea, and other illnesses, yet up in the mountains, clean water sources are hard to come by.

When it rains, Amabilia is able to collect fresh rainwater. Otherwise, she has to fetch water from the same river where people wash clothes and bathe. “We have some wells, but they are far away from here. We go to the river. The well is more than half an hour walk,” says Amabilia.

Trapped by poverty

Due to poor sanitation and lack of proper nutrients, Amabilia’s children have suffered symptoms of malnutrition, worms, diarrhea, and other illnesses their entire lives. Though these health concerns are preventable and treatable, Amabilia is unable to take her children to the nearby clinic. “Yes, there is a clinic in the community, which is about one and a half hours’ walk away, but when the river swells, we’re not able to go,” she says. “Besides, we can’t afford it.”

Once a year, the children receive de-worming medicine from a visiting health team, but while they wait, Amabilia’s worries build. “I do get concerned because these worms can kill them,” she says. But, like many living in rural Honduras, the Gonzales family is trapped by rough terrain and poverty.

Help from World Vision

World Vision is working to address the problems faced by these families, for whom lack of income has combined with health threats and geographical constraints to create a desperate situation. In the Gonzales’ community, our staff members are educating parents on proper nutrition and hygiene and providing resources for a healthy, sustainable future.

Amabilia is learning how to prevent malnutrition and worms, and her husband is now able to grow resources that will help his family thrive. World Vision gave the Gonzales family tools to begin their own garden, so they do not have to depend on inconsistent coffee income. “We received some seed of cabbage, carrots, lettuce, [and] cucumbers. We planted them and harvested them last year,” says Amabilia. “We liked them very much, and the kids liked them, too,” she adds.

Life on a rural Honduran hillside is difficult, but the Gonzales family does not have to resign to hunger and disease. Because she is receiving training and supplies from World Vision, Amabilia will be able to care for her family and watch her dream of healthy children become a reality.