Malnourishment in Guatemala

In today’s Reuters AlertNet there was an article about Map International and their efforts to provide vitamins and medicines to the poor of Guatemala. According to the article ‘half of all the country’s children younger than 5 – more than 1 million boys and girls – suffer from chronic malnutrition. It is the highest malnourishment rate in Latin America. And it is the sixth-highest rate in the world.’

With the rising prices the malnutrition will surely escalate and as food and daily living expenses rise there will be more and more children whose parents are unable to send them to school. Education And More steps in to help fill that need!

The article goes on to state that figures from the World Bank show that 9 million people in Guatemala live below the poverty line. According to statistics the poverty line in Guatemala is set at $4.02 a day and the ‘absolute’ poverty line is $2.01 a day. In the rural areas of western Guatemala many people live on $1 or $2 a day.

It is difficult to understand that kind of poverty in a country so beautiful as Guatemala. But Guatemala is just now recovering from a 36 year civil war — yes, 36 years!

With 9 million living in poverty out of the total population of 12 million it is not difficult to understand that they need help from their friends around the world. In Matthew 25:40 the Lord says ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’