The Nicaraguan grandma bringing health and hope to her village

These were the choices available to grandmother Santa Elena and her indigenous community in San Jerónimo village, north-eastern Nicaragua. In fact the entire Caribbean region of the country, which covers 55 per cent of the territory, only has three public hospitals.

A particular problem in Santa Elena’s village was maternal mortality and malaria, especially in the June to October rainy season when mosquitoes are rife. Year after year she saw people die unnecessarily from illness or injury.

But then Santa Elena met Tearfund’s partner in the country Acción Médica Cristiana (AMC). AMC is working with indigenous communities, training community leaders like her to become health promoters.

She was determined to make the most of this and help her community. Now she and others in the village have been trained, Santa Elena says, ‘I’m grateful, grateful, grateful to AMC and Tearfund for providing training for us! They have taught us how to deal with malaria, clean wounds, deal with snake bites, taught us how to suture, apply serum. We know how to inject, have had midwife training…’

Thanks to her new-found knowledge, Santa Elena is already making a huge difference to her community. She says, ‘People don’t die as frequently as before. Children have better nutrition, maternal and childbirth mortality rates have decreased, and we have better knowledge to prevent new diseases.’

It is still a struggle to get hold of medicine and to ensure villagers have the correct vitamins to keep them healthy. But thanks to your generosity and prayers and the determination of people like Santa Elena, this remote community has made a huge leap forward in improving health and securing a brighter future.

PLEASE PRAY

• Give thanks for the work of AMC. Pray for staff as they travel to remote parts of the country to give this vital training.
• Pray for Nicaragua, that there will be a boost to infrastructure and that public health provision will improve.
• Ask for blessing on San Jerónimo, that it will have better access to medication and vitamins. Pray that the good skills people have learnt through AMC’s training will be passed on and multiplied for the next generation.

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