The first week of Guatemala teams Crux, Lunchbox, and Remnant stayed in Antigua working with a ministry called God’s Child.
This ministry focuses on the overall welfare of children in poor families. A particular focus for the organization is malnourished children. Many families who don’t have enough money to buy a lot of food, give their children diets of corn tortillas and coffee (I’m talking children even under the age of one). Thus, God’s Child steps in with educational materials and vegetable tables to enable the family with the proper nutrients. In the mean time, children who have at least a 90% mortality rate are taken to the malnourished children’s clinic, Casa Jackson.
At Casa Jackson, volunteers called Holders and Huggers and at least one staff nurse work 24 hours a day to feed the children full nutritional meals every two hours (three as they near full recovery). Casa Jackson has a maximum capacity of 15 children, but considering the kind of emotional and physical neglect these children often have faced, it is a very full job in which the Huggers and Holders are aptly nam
ed.
We started out our night getting into our scrubs and dawning our surgical masks so as not to breath any germs on the susceptible babies. We were introduced to all the children residing there and then prepared for the 8 o’clock feeding. This first feeding the nurse asked me to feed a girl named Merlyn (kind of like the wizard, but with a fun Spanish accent on it). Although her chart said she was 9 years old, she looked 6 maybe 7, and she had ________, which means she could talk or really even move. She willingly 
ate her chicken soup and milk while I prayed and sang to her. She was such a sweet girl and I could just feel how much God loved her. Shortly after her feeding she fell into a deep sleep…I’m talking deep. The rest of the night, it was almost impossible to wake her. I did discover a ticklish armpit that would activate her rooting reflex and she would sleep eat her meals.
The nine o’clock feeding brought on a new challenge-Stephanie. When I first met her I jokingly said we had a special bond and were kindred spirits. I could not have been more right. At 15 months, she was probably the most stubborn baby ever. As I struggled to feed her I felt it was more the fa
ct that she didn’t k trust me (or any of the other volunteers), which kept her fighting. Between her 9, 12, 3, and 6 o’clock feedings, she might have gotten a full meal.
Christian was the clown of the clinic. He had everyone wrapped around his little finger, but mostly we didn’t mind. At six years old, when he was found he was so weak he was unable to walk. He had just gained enough strength in his legs to stand and walk short distances, but still needed help for the longer distances-like the bathroom-which we took him to frequently.
At about 5, when we are all struggling to keep our eyes open, it’s time to weigh the children. All reported increased weight and were doing well. Unfortunately, because we have to strip them down and set them on a cold baby scale, they all wake up quite refreshed and ready to play. It was a long two hours. But we managed and were able to entertain ourselves by racing two of the healthier babies who were crawling everywhere and fighting over a green plastic ring. Although Pamela was the faster crawler, Eddie had more initiative and won 3 out of 3 times.
