Monte Sinai, Bolivia

Martina (age 28) moved to Monte Sinai from Sucre (the capital of Bolivia) ten years ago. Having heard there was land available many families, including Martina’s, moved from the highlands in search of a place to call their own.

Martina has four children with her husband, Johnny (age 11), Julisa (8), Rolando (6) and Ana Cristina (10 months). Her family, one of the more successful in the community, raised enough money working the land planting corn and rice to buy a car that the husband runs as a taxi for extra income.  On occasion the family purchases bread but their diet usually consists of potato soup, wheat noodles or peanut soup for breakfast, carrots in soup for lunch or salad and rice with egg or occasionally chicken for dinner.  Martina tells us that she used to purchase vegetables from the larger town nearby to sell in her community, but there was no demand.  Unlike their family, who is very fortunate by comparison, no other families in the village have a refrigerator (there is no power in the community, it is propane-powered), and vegetables go bad too quickly.  Still, Martina does sell other staple foods in Monte Sinai to supplement their income.  She spends her days cooking meals for the family, getting her children ready and to school and cleaning the house and doing laundry.

When asked about the health of the family, Martina tells us that she and her family are often sick. Ana Cristina has diarrhea, and all of the older children regularly battle lice. The children get colds quite often and when they are able to get medicine, it does not always help.  The children also have trouble concentrating on studying. She and her husband have both had Dengue Fever (a mosquito borne disease).  Martina says she suffers chronic pain from her last Caesarean section (her second, and a practice we found was not uncommon even if very remote areas). She says most of the time doctors are unavailable in the community so if the ailment is serious they have to travel for care. During the rainy season they are completely cut off.

When asked what her hopes were for her children she said that she wants them to be able to continue their educations and to go on to have good jobs. She put an emphasis on the fact that she wants a better life for her children than she has had.

Vitamin Angels visited Monte Sinai, with field partners, World Concern to distribute vitamin A to the children, like Martina’s daughter Ana Cristina, to boost their immune systems and supplement their nutrient deficient diets.  In addition, an educational session accompanied by informational posters on the sources and benefits of vitamin A, and the symptoms and sources of parasites was given to the whole community.

Our thanks to Marcia Furst and Tom Schott of the Vitamin Shoppe for capturing this story while on a trip with Vitamin Angels.