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Rosa* was four months pregnant, working full time, and caring for her almost 2-year-old son, Dario*, who was diagnosed with anemia. Unfortunately, Dario didn’t like the taste of the iron sulfate he had to take. He would spit it out and lose his appetite during meals.
When Rosa saw a local church announcement about an anemia project for pregnant women and children under 3, she was thrilled. The project included follow-up visits arranged according to her schedule and the opportunity to ask health care professionals about her specific situation. Rosa and Dario were not only tested, but they also received iron supplementation and nutritional educational training based on foods available in her local market.
Rosa learned iron-rich recipes and the importance of micronutrients in the absorption of iron. After one year in the project, Rosa and Dario had normal hemoglobin levels and, most importantly, her new baby girl was born without anemia.
*Names changed to maintain privacy
As a midwife in Cerro de Pasco, Perú, Catherine’s proudest moments are the minutes after successfully resuscitating newborns. Infant fatalities are a grim reality in the delivery room, but she has saved many newborns and is determined to save more.
“Neonatal resuscitation is a precise and time-pressured practice. Without the highest standards of training, the consequences are irreversible. That’s why I enrolled in HBI’s Neonatal Resuscitation Training Program. It helped me systematically approach the proper steps to infant CPR, and equipped me to save more babies,” she shares.
At 24, Elizabeth* gave birth to her third child prematurely. Her baby was diagnosed with a rare, inborn metabolic disorder that causes weak muscular development and failure to thrive. Her quick-thinking doctors worked out a plan to transport Elizabeth to Lima, where her baby can receive life-saving support.
Coming from a rural area, Elizabeth had no family or friends in Lima, but she was able to rent a small hut atop a motor shop by working as a clothes cleaner and selling food on the streets. Although working tirelessly to support herself and her children, she couldn’t meet all her family’s needs, including her youngest’s urgent medical care. Eventually, her efforts brought her to the attention of an HBI Ines Project Health Ambassador, and she enrolled in the program.
Juancito* is a playful boy who likes helping others. The Casa Girasoles staff love his infectious energy and eagerness to help sweep, mop, and clean the home, even if it takes him a little longer than the older boys.
But this wasn’t always the case. When Juancito was introduced to HBI by child protective services, he was in crisis. He had left his mother and grandmother, who could not feed or take care of him on top of their other young children. At age 8, Juancito was wandering the city’s outskirts, where child protective services found him.
In December 2019, Juancito was welcomed into Casa Girasoles for temporary shelter.
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Content warning: The following story discusses the challenging realities of our work among children, youth, and young adults in Perú.
Our team is well acquainted with challenges and how to rise above them, but this does not exempt us from experiencing heartbreak. When we heard news that Manny*, one of the boys from Comunidad Girasoles (formerly Tigres Program), passed away from his long fight with tuberculosis, we felt demoralized despite knowing that we did everything we could.
Tuberculosis is 100% treatable, which makes Manny’s death doubly tragic. For months, we saw Manny struggle and fight to get the care he needed. We used every public health incentive we could think of to keep him consistent with his treatment week after week, but it didn’t work. At some point, the side effects of antibiotics, the challenges of getting medication, and the uncertainty of his future became too much and he left the care of Comunidad Girasoles without permission.
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