An artefact of inequality

There is an old (ancient) centrifuge in Quixayá, donated to the health promoter program. It works. But I don’t know what they would use it for in Quixayá. Vicente seemed to think it was to be used to run bacterial cultures. The lab at the parish clinic doesn’t even run cultures. Vicente said that we could lift the lid and use it as a fan, as the air in the community center in Quixayá tends to get hot and stagnant in the summer. We all had a good laugh.

But seriously…places like Guatemala get our garbage. They get people who are confused and lost, or idealistic and energetic but without any applicable skills. They get our junk—whether or not they want it, need it, or know what to do with it other than put it away and out of sight. So while no diabetic in Quixayá is on metformin (first-line treatment in the States), an old centrifuge collects dust, hidden under a large (and largely unused) examination table in the community center.

Vitamin B King Kong

Doña Candelaria was told by a local NGO that Rosbin is malnourished. Later, when Lesvia asked Rosbin to hand her a basket that was high on a shelf, he said he could not: “I can’t help you because I am malnourished!” Again, we all had a good laugh.

What is Doña C supposed to do with the information that Rosbin is malnourished, now that he is 7-years-old? Especially when the advice given to her was to take a Vitamin B-complex supplement and “pay attention to how he is eating”?

At least Rosbin can use his malnourishment as an excuse to avoid helping around the house. And this morning at breakfast he was running around the kitchen saying that the vitamin supplement will turn him into King Kong, similar to the effect of spinach on Popeye.