“I’m exhausted.” 

“I’m  going crazy.” 

“My house seems like a zoo with wild animals screaming all day.”

“I’m a monster. Last week I hit my daughter because she wouldn’t stop crying.”

“I wish my son had an off  button.”

“My husband left to stay with his mom. He’s not usually home, but with the shut down he doesn’t have work. He said he couldn’t stand the mess in the house.”

“I’m a terrible mother and wife”

These were just some of the comments from several mother’s with children with disabilities in Xela (Queztaltenango) the second largest city in Guatemala. Last week Shes, Guatemala Director of TCI, received a last minute invitation to attend an online support group meeting for mothers of children with disabilities. Because of the shutdowns in Guatemala, as in many other countries around the world, these moms have not been able to take their children with disabilities to their therapy sessions or special education programs because they’re closed. Needing some help one mother took the initiative to contact the other mothers in the therapy program and start this online group. Most of the mothers in this group have children on the autism spectrum or with other sensory, cognitive, or behavioral disabilities. 

After everyone had shared, one of the mothers said “It is true. We are struggling. It is not easy for us, but we have a house and we can stay home. We even have internet and the ability to get online and talk with one another.  Imagine what the mothers in the villages are doing. They are feeling exhausted, they might be going crazy like we are, but they might not have food.”

It is true some of the families we’ve worked with are really struggling and need help. It is not just a hard time, but a genuine crisis as they try to provide for their family. The country has been shut down for over eight weeks with no signs of reopening soon. This past weekend no one was allowed outside between 5pm Friday and 5am the following Monday. Many of you have reached out to help. Thank you. If you’d still like to make an extra gift to help, you can at www.cten.org/tci.   Please indicate your extra giving is for food for the families.  We will make sure your funds are directed to those we’ve worked with to get food out to the families. Thanks again. 

Note: Guatemala remains under stay home orders. This is the start of our 13th week. We are still under a curfew, only allowed outside from 5am to 6pm. Two weeks prior we could not go outside our homes from 5pm Friday to 5am Monday. Public transportation, schools, all gatherings, and travel outside the county is still closed. There is a phased plan for re-opening but we haven’t gotten to the point to start working towards the first phase yet.