Gaspar Got Sick Again

Early in February, I was asked to see a sick child and to my surprise, it was Gaspar again – the same child who was sick with pneumonia back in December. This time Gaspar seemed really sick. He had all the characteristics of severe pneumonia, like having a hard time breathing, fast breaths, and his ribs showing through his stomach when he drew in breaths. “This child has pneumonia,” I told his mother Margarita in the Ixil language, since she does not understand Spanish.

I tried to convince Margarita to take Gaspar to the hospital, but she was negative about the idea. She asked me to give her medicine to cure him at home so she wouldn’t have to take him to the hospital. I agreed to give her the medicine and to observe him for the next couple of days. I explained to her how to administer the medicine: the correct dosage, timing, etc.

After Margarita left, I went to see Gaspar’s father and explained to him that Gaspar was very sick and they needed to take him to the hospital. But his father said he didn’t want to go because it was night already and there was no transportation, and hiring a vehicle would be too expensive for them. Later on, I learned that they refused to go to the hospital because in the past they had a bad experience. One of their children died at the hospital, so they don’t trust hospitals and doctors.

Gaspar Has Severe Pneumonia

This is Gaspar the day his mother brought him to me. You can see that he has severe pneumonia because is breathing very fast. I counted 50 breathes per minute.