In our most recent visit with the Fabian family, we learned that Angelica was overcoming a “cold,” which very well could have been COVID, but we are uncertain because she was afraid to get tested.

The difficulty in Guatemala is that when everyone is working to simply survive on a daily basis, the thought of being quarantined is super scary. Chus has been able to keep working at the block factory recently, so this has helped the family greatly. Jeremias has been attending classes at the local school virtually…through video calls on the family cell phone. We knew that weeks ago Angelica had some basic cold symptoms, so we waited to visit with them. However, when she explained to us her symptoms weeks later, we learned that it was more than just a regular cold.

Angelica was bedridden for at least a week. She was struggling with breathing and had no energy and had some body aches. Jeremias maintained the house and even cooked basic foods for her since she could barely get out of bed, let alone prepare a meal. Chus’ work requires him to get up at 3 or 4 am and work all day carrying bags of cement and he returns home around 4:30 in the afternoon. They have been able to sustain themselves but were very happy to receive the monthly nutritional bag that we brought to help them. Angelica told us that she has been teaching Jeremias how to properly portion out food and not just eat everything at once as they need to make it last.

We stressed the importance of consulting a doctor when sick as the general culture dictates not trusting doctors and simply buying medicine from the pharmacy in hopes that it will help or getting leftover pills from family members and friends. We have also made it clear that we can help with purchasing medicine as needed if the family needs help, but it is really an ongoing battle. We did also bring them more vitamins as they will help the families ingest the proper nutrients they need…especially for the kids as they grow and the adults as their immune systems are usually compromised due to malnutrition. As much as we try to teach them and advise them, they still need to take responsibility for their own health.

We also were surprised to meet Angelica’s father, who recently moved in with them. We didn’t get much of the story as to why he was living there, but intend to find out. We know that it is very common in Guatemala for family members to live together like that for economic reasons and he too has been working, which helps contribute towards the costs of living.

Jeremias has been doing well in school, although his teacher wrote on his report card that he needs to be a little more organized with his homework.

Please continue to pray for this family as they do their best to move forward and do the best they can.