LAKELAND, Fla. -- A mission team assembled by the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes’ international childcare program traveled to San Juan, Guatemala recently to make assessments and develop plans to make improvements to the Children’s Malnutrition Center of San Juan, Guatemala.

The center provides temporary care to infants and young children that are severely malnourished. The children come from homes where they did not receive proper nutrition, primarily due to their parent’s lack of means to provide the necessary food and care.
The children receive housing, daily bathing, medicine, and three meals a day.  The center currently cares for thirty children, which includes fourteen infants and sixteen children between the ages of two and four years of age. A doctor comes by every day to assess the condition of the children.

A child is discharged from the center once the doctor determines that they have regained proper health and that there are reasonable assurances that the child will receive proper nutrition on a regular basis once they leave the facility.

The center was built in the 1950s as a tuberculosis hospital, but was converted to a care center for children in the 1970s. Since that time the center has fallen into disrepair and needs significant work in order to improve the living environment and quality of care that is provided to the children.

Dr. Jerry Haag, president of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes stated that improving the living conditions for the children at the Malnutrition Center is one of the major objectives of the Children’s Homes’ international childcare program this year.

“The Florida Baptist Children’s Homes is mobilizing mission teams throughout the coming year to change the lives and eternities of the children living in this Malnutrition Center.  The goal is to provide a quality of care for the precious children already living there and expand the capacity of the center in order to serve more children. The center currently serves around thirty children, but will have the capacity to provide life saving help to two hundred children once improvements are made and additional staff resources are provided,” Haag said.

“We are working to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the children in the Malnutrition Center and around the world. Our churches and teams of volunteers are providing critical physical care and are sharing the love of Jesus Christ with the desperate children and staff.”

Ron Gunter, vice president of international childcare for the Children’s Homes will be coordinating all of the mission trips to the center throughout the year.

“Our first team to start work on this project will depart on March 14 and will serve for one week. The team will be doing some light construction projects, painting, and spending a significant amount of time interacting with the children, “Gunter said.

“If someone can use a paint brush they can be of great use and assistance on one of our trips. Or just spending some time with the children would be a tremendous help in providing some relief for the workers."

“There are only about three staff available to care for thirty children during the day, which doesn’t give them much time to provide individual attention to the kids. These kids deeply grave greater levels of human interaction from adults,” Gunter said.  

Joe Hesson, director of maintenance for the Children’s Homes’ Lakeland campus was part of the assessment team that recently traveled to Guatemala.

“The needs of the malnutrition center are great. This trip was an eye-opening experience for me. Most of us don’t have a clue as to the conditions that many people around the world live in. I realize that some people in the U.S. have it tough right now with this economy, but I guarantee it is nothing like what these kids must contend with,” Hesson said.

“There’s so much that needs to be done. The kitchen and laundry facilities are in deplorable shape. In fact most of the laundry is done by hand and then hung on a line or laid out on the concrete to dry. They cook the meals for the more than thirty kids on propane cook tops. They only have a small tank, so when it runs out they use an old fashioned wood stove,” Hesson said.

“We also looked into acquiring a water treatment system for the center. Many of their problems are related to the fact that they don’t have access to clean water.”Hesson will be leading a mission team back to the center on Mary 15, 2009 to continue to the process of making repairs and improving the center.

The Florida Baptist Children’s Homes will be conducting international childcare mission trips to the malnutrition center throughout the year. If you are interested in joining one of the mission trips contact Ron Gunter at 305-271-4121 or Ron.Gunter@FBCHomes.org or sign up for a trip on their website at www.FBChomes.org .

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