By now most of you know how passionate I am about the single mothers and children of Guatemala. I traveled to Guatemala in November of 2002 to adopt my daughter, Julia. I would like to share with you the story of one woman that I have never met but have come to love and respect. I became aware of Candelaria's situation in the winter of 2007. Since that time I have been helping the family with food and rent money. Candelaria is not sure how old she is, she thinks around the age of 40. Candelaria had her first child, Jose, 27 years ago. After her pregnancy with Jose she began to feel numbness in her legs, she was afraid to have more children, afraid of the numb feeling. Thirteen years later Candelaria had her second child, Debra. The numbness continued. Candelaria went on to have 3 more children. The numbness progressed with each pregnancy to where she was confined to a wheelchair. Recently, the numbness has moved up to her arms and she is very limited in her daily activities. She is dependent on her children for everything. The household chores have fallen on the shoulders of her oldest daughter, Debra. Not long ago, a friend of mine was traveling to Guatemala to visit and work with Mayan Families. I asked her to visit Candelaria and her family. My friend speaks perfect Spanish, so she was able to communicate without an interpreter. My friend told Candelaria that I had asked her to come visit. Candelaria asked my friend to tell me how apprciative she was of all the help I had given her and her family. She sent a blouse back to the States as token of her appreciation. While talking to Candelaria, it became appearant that she was becoming more despondent with her situation. She felt useless and desperately wanted to know what was wrong with her. She felt her life was more or less over. She was not able to leave her house to go anywhere. When my friend relayed this to me, it broke my heart. Being a single mother myself, I know how difficult life can be. But being in a wheelchair, a single mother to 5 children and not being able to care for them PLUS living in Guatemala where NOTHING is wheelchair accessible, was beyond my comprehension.
I am sharing this heartbreaking story with you because my friend and I want to send Candelaria to Guatemala City to be evaluated by a neurologist, have an MRI and hopefully get a diagnosis. Sending Candelaria to the city when she has never been out of her town will be a huge undertaking, but she is willing to go. A lovely woman, Jody Greenlee, knows where we can get an MRI for $100.00. Jody is the founder and executive director of Finding Freedom Through Friendship. (FFF) Jody has been volunteering in Guatemala for the past 12 years. Her experience there led to the creation of her non-profit organization, FFF.
With Mother's Day approaching could you keep Candelaria in your thoughts? If you are unsure what to buy for your mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, please consider purchasing an item from my blog or making a tax deductible donation in their honor. Donations may be made through going to finding-freedom-through-friendship.org/ or by going to mayanfamilies.org. Mark the donation for "Candelaria, single Mom in wheelchair" If a donation is made in honor of someone, I will send that person a personal note making them aware of the donation. Please, feel free to email me for more information or if there is a particular item you would like to purchase.
Many thanks,
Carol
thekreminator@aol.com
