Martha's Story

“Your are broken, no good for me. I need a whole woman”, were the last words that Martha heard from her husband's lips as he stepped into their one room adobe hut to cowardly address his wife as she laid on the bed.

Martha's husband left her to fend for her young family alone, being mostly bed ridden, dealing with two gaping holes in her abdomen that left a clear view of her intestines. The doctors, who had operated on her, after abdominal complications arising from the premature birth of her daughter Jocelyn, had given up on her and sent her home to die. But she had hung on stubbornly to life, defying the odds. She was constantly in pain, could barely move, let alone walk, and had to rely heavily on her mother's help.

That was over seven months ago. Thank God for her widowed mother Felipa, what would she have done without her? She had been a tower of strengths, taking care of Martha's two boys and the tiny infant as well as looking after Martha, never once giving up on her.

Martha's father had been ambushed by “banditos” one evening, many yeas ago, after making the long bus journey home, a tiny pouch tucked safely inside his undershirt containing the month's wages that he had earned working away from his family in Guatemala City. It was difficult living without the presence of her father but she clearly remembers the happy evenings spent with him when he returned home with enough money to feed the family for the next little while. Her father always had a sweat treat tucked away for his children upon his return. One dreadful evening, the news was delivered to them; thieves had attacked and killed her father for the tiny pouch of money he carried, while he made the last part of his trek home on foot, through the narrow mountain paths that she herself walked so often.

Her mother, who had been left alone to raise her children, was now present beside her daughter's bed made of twine and tree limbs, once more hearing the words that condemned a woman to age rapidly beyond her years. Her husband had been killed, her daughter's husband was leaving her, but the end result was still the same; the woman was left alone to deal with the almost impossible task of providing for a young family with little to no financial means. Her time was now spent keeping her daughter's incisions as clean as possible, hoping to keep her daughter's wound free from what would surely become a fatal infection.

The little bit of money that her oldest son, Martha's brother, sent from Guatemala City had helped them to survive up to now, but for how long could they keep this up? It was already a miracle in itself that Martha had survived seven months in the bacteria infested environment of rural Guatemala, with no clean water and very little food. Her intestines were severed in the operation, which permitted fecal matter to pass through the raw openings of the wounds. Martha was afraid to eat or drink, as this would mean more waste excreting from the sores.

Felipa was desperate to do more for her daughter but she did not know where to turn. As a last thread of hope, her brother, a catechist in their village, suggested she go see the Canadians who had been working in the mountains for several years now and occasionally had doctors visiting. Maybe they could help. She borrowed the money for the bus journey, in an attempt to find these Canadians.

Miriam was at the Wells of Hope camp with her five children who were studying their daily school lessons, when she saw this determined woman make her way up to the main building. After a brief introduction, Miriam sat down with Felipa and listened to her long story.

Dr. Shimon Levytam, a naturopath practitioner from Niagara on the Lake, was with the Wells of Hope group in Guatemala, volunteering his medical services during a ten-day experience. The day of Felipa's visit to the Wells of Hope camp, he was performing a medical clinic at El Rodeo, one of the many villages in the Mountains of Santa Maria. Using the local cell phone service, Miriam called Dr. Levytam and explained about Felipa's daughter. He agreed promptly to go and see her. After working through the line of patients that remained to be seen, Ted drove Dr. Levytam to the steep footpath off the bumpy mountainous dirt track that lead to where Felipa and her family lived. Assessing Martha's condition, he determined that the seriousness of the situation demanded that Martha be taken to the local hospital in Jalapa the very next day and be operated on.

Spending all morning in the Government Hospital, tracking down the doctors who could make this needed operation a reality, Dr. Levytam was disappointed to hear that they would not be able to operate on Martha until May 24th. Dr Levytam found this unacceptable as the risk of infection was too great and the visible pain that Martha was in would not allow him to be content with this proposal. The Wells of Hope is not currently set up for operation procedures so that option eas out. We had to find an alternate location.

With the small group consisting of Felipa with baby Jocelyn, Martha, Dr Levytam, and myself, we sought out another doctor who runs one of a number of private hospitals in Jalapa. These hospitals only cater to the financially successful of the region as they are the only ones who can afford the luxury service.. The doctor listened attentively to Dr. Levytam's medical diagnosis and reasons for an immediate operation. He agreed to do the operation the very next day with Dr. Levytam's assistance for the price of 8,000 Quetzales, roughly $1,100 Canadian dollars.

There was no time wasted wondering where the money would come from. We immediately agreed to the price. (Apparently it was a good deal according to an insider scoop!) The cost was secondary to relieving the pain that Martha was in. Dr. Levytam and Dr. Ortiz performed the operation the very next morning.

Thanks to Dr. Levytam,s presence, Martha is on her way to full recovery. Still very weak and unsteady on her legs, Matha's whole family was eagerly waiting for her on the dirt path when we drove her back to her mountain home after two weeks of recovery in Jalapa. Hugging her legs, her children burst into tears at seeing their mother again. Martha turned around and could only cry and hug us as her way of saying “thanks.” As we were pulling away, I could not help but look in the rear view mirror and wipe away my own tear as I realized how blessed that I am to have been a part of bringing new Hope to this family. Thanks Dr. Levytam!