Antigua, Guatemala
I ran my fingers through her hair.
It felt dry and brittle. Heidi giggled nervously and pointed to my own hair. She wanted a big bun like mine.
She sat in my lap as I gently worked the tangles out of her brown-orange hair. I thought about how I enjoy my own natural highlights; those sun-kissed strands that stand out against the dark brown. I thought about my complaints over the weight of the thick bun sitting on my head, but I knew I wouldn’t be willing to cut it off anytime soon.
My attention turned back to the precious six-year-old who was happily telling me stories in a native tongue I couldn’t understand. I knew the sad truth. Those pieces of dry hair in my hands did not hold an orange tint from hours in the sun, but rather from years of malnutrition. Beans may fill the belly for a night, but they do not contain all the nutrients that Heidi’s body needs.
I wish that the impact of malnutrition ended with Heidi’s hair, but it is much more serious than that. Her physical and developmental growth are at stake. When the proper nutrients are missing, development is stunted and even if she is well-fed later in life it can difficult, if not impossible, to catch up.
Fifty percent of Guatemalan children are malnourished, making Guatemala the most malnourished country in the Americas. Parents are working in fields of vegetables that are needed in their children’s diets, but the most money can be made through export and they prefer to eat rice and beans.
It can be easy to read about the numbers and put down the news article. It can be easy to just shake my head and go fix myself a sandwich.
Heidi…
Something changes when one of those who was just previously a number on a graph is sitting on my lap. I cannot ignore it when that “one” has a name. I cannot just shake my head and brush my hands of it when my hands are holding this hair…this hair that is so precious that each strand is numbered by God.
So what is to be done?
I don’t know.
I’m not sure how to approach the problem or what the best answer is. For now, I will keep buying extra groceries to share each week. I will keep asking God for eyes to see the ones in need. I will not settle for a shake of the head. I will pull little Heidi onto my lap and make the biggest, most beautiful bun I possibly can.
