Asi es la vida, or ‘That’s life,’ as they say in Guatemala — an assessment

There’s an expression I hear often in Guatemala – “Asi es la vida.” That’s life.Last month, my friend Charlie Gomez died suddenly — and unexpectedly — at age 24.Charlie was fluent in English. He spent several years in the United States for treatment when he was very badly burned as a boy after touching a live electrical wire. He was a skilled woodworker, an eager translator — a helping hand loved by all. Charlie also suffered from depression and epilepsy in addition to lifelong burn treatment. He neglected treatment for all three. Charlie died alone in his bed from an epileptic seizure.Asi es la vida.In April, the Lake Atitlan Wellness Clinic asked me to join its board of directors, at about the time news of the children’s refugee crisis on the U.S./Mexican border — and the political and social reaction to it — exploded onto the Internet, the front pages and the daily TV news. I’ve been involved with other nonprofit agencies in Guatemala for several years, and am a member of the Salisbury Rotary Club. I have just returned from six weeks in Guatemala.Travel enthusiasts consider Lake Atitlan to be one of the most beautiful and majestic lakes in the world. Tourist traffic pours in daily. The Atitlan area is also home to some of Guatemala’s poorest people. Desperation and hopelessness are elements of daily life for many Guatemalans, mainly the indigenous Maya people. Guatemala has one of the world’s highest chronic malnutrition rates.Recently, a friend of clinic staff arrived with photos of a near-catatonic, severely malnourished toddler with burns over much of his body. The boy lived near the coast, two hours away by public bus, where there was no health care. I offered to pay transportation and hotel expenses for the family. They didn’t arrive as arranged; we called the mother again and again. She hesitated for two weeks and her child died. Hopelessness?Asi es la vida.Guatemala is so close to the United States that parents will borrow a year’s income and send their children off with strangers to attempt to cross the U.S. border 2,000 miles away. The Lake Atitlan Wellness Clinic’s mission is to improve the conditions that lead to such desperation. The parents of these children love them intensely and want them to stay home.There’s a health-care crisis in Guatemala. It is acute, and in a constant state of emergency that has lasted for years. Total reform is necessary. Will anything change on the political level that would lead to improvement? Will an infusion of a billion dollars change anything? Probably not.On average, 1,000 people seeking consultations are turned away daily at Roosevelt Hospital, Guatemala’s biggest, in Guatemala City. There aren’t enough resources to dispense medications, maintain diagnostic equipment or increase staff to treat the patient load. In 2011, a comprehensive government study concluded that the national health-care budget needed to triple in order to meet the needs of the population. That didn’t happen.Even when patients are able to receive a diagnosis, many leave the hospital with a prescription for life-saving medicines they can’t afford or find. This situation exists at hospitals in cities, and in small clinics, all across the country.• • •Lake Atitlan is in the Guatemala state of Sololá and is one of Guatemala’s safest areas. Beautiful homes line the shore, some with helicopter pads. Yet Sololá has a chronic malnutrition rate of 62 percent, poverty rates exceed 50 percent and extreme poverty is above 25 percent.The Lake Atitlan Wellness Clinic is the only clinic in the Atitlan area, and perhaps all of Guatemala, that dispenses free medications. Private funding is currently our only resource. While politicians in Washington and Guatemala City debate solutions that have never improved conditions in the past, children are sick and dying and will continue to travel to our border.There are effective nonprofit agencies all across Guatemala — and some have been in place for decades — that are devoted to relieving poverty through education, health care, nutrition, housing improvements, etc. Most are underfunded.Our two governments have thrown tax money at these issues before — but improvements are so small they are difficult to quantify. Meanwhile, nonprofits struggle to meet the demand for services the government does not provide.You, however, on your own, can make a tangible difference and see results. I guarantee it. Contributions from individuals, schools, churches, businesses or civic groups can save lives in Central America. A small contribution can save a child’s life, or create a path to a school, not a border.I invite to you contact me any time, either to donate to the Lake Atitlan Wellness clinic or for help contacting agencies we partner with that address other issues.Jim Britt, who lives in Salisbury, Conn., is a member of the Salisbury Rotary Club and will be the featured speaker at its Aug. 26 luncheon at noon at Geer Village in North Canaan. The public is welcome. To make a reservation, call Mona’s cell phone at 860-248-0867. There is a $15 fee for lunch. Email Jim at jimbritt@lakeatitlanwellnessclinic.org.