The following excerpt is from a September 29, 2009 article published in the Miami Herald. To read the article in its entirety, please click here.
A record-breaking drought in Guatemala — coupled with higher food prices and a drop in remittances — is raising concerns that malnutrition could be spreading in the Central American nation.
BY TRENTON DANIEL
DEVISADERO, Guatemala — Victoria Lopez cradles her 2-year-old granddaughter Jennifer, whose chubby cheeks, bloated legs and stunted growth make her look much younger than healthy children her age.
“She just sits there — she doesn’t move,” Lopez, 39, said as she rocked the toddler in her arms. “She’s two and not even walking yet.”
Jennifer’s condition is not unique among children in the hills of Guatemala’s so-called dry corridor along the Pacific. The country’s worst drought in 30 years has destroyed 80 percent of the region’s crops and claimed the lives of more than a dozen children so far this year.
Comments are closed.