You see because of the lack of nutrition in their diet, she is significantly smaller than I am, and this isn’t a genetic issue.
She has 2 children and is pregnant with her third. And the reality is they will all grow up small.
Which isn’t a big deal except their size is the visible part of an issue we can’t fully see.
The same thing that caused her to be small is also causing her brain to be underdeveloped. She is what we would call Developmentally challenged. The physical part of her brain just isn’t all there.
And so she is doomed to a life of poverty.
And the scariest part is her children are doomed to the same poverty
Because their brains aren’t developed enough to get an education and start working themselves out of this cycle of poverty.
What caused her brain to under develop? What caused her children’s brains to under develop? A diet chronically low in nutrients.
But that all started to change when we partnered with them on a project we call Veggie school. Just little family gardens that are growing broccoli, lettuce, squash and other healthy foods.
For the first time in her life, Juana will have healthy food to give her child during the crucial first 2 years of their life. For her older children, its too late to fix their brains. The damage is permenant. But there is a chance for her unborn child… if it gets the nutrients it needs.
So it can grow up healthy
So it’s brain can develop fully
So it can get an education
And get a good job
So it can get out of this cycle of poverty.
And all I have to do is donate money, and invite my friends to donate money, to helping people grow their own gardens
That’s worth a little time and money for me.
-Vince