Providing a Promising Future

Claudia Roxana Murguía lives in Caserío El Limón, a small community nestled in the hilly region of Morazán near the Honduran border. At 17, she faces the enormous task of being a mother. Her 10-month-old daughter, Ivana, is a happy baby. She looks around with her big captivating eyes and is perfectly at ease in the arms of her mother.

For the last few years, Claudia has been visiting the ADRA Mobile Clinic in her town. The first time she went to the clinic it was for a regular dental check-up. Soon after, she became pregnant with Ivana and decided to return to the clinic to see a doctor. Thanks to the help she received there, she had a normal pregnancy and the baby was born healthy.

The ADRA Mobile Clinic offers a number of services, including medical and dental assistance; nutrition check-ups for children; training and education for mothers in primary health, hygiene, and first aid; training for instructors in health principles, health and the environment, HIV and AIDS, hygiene, first aid, human rights, leadership, and community development; organizing local health committees; and providing nutrition to local beneficiaries.

Before the ADRA Mobile Clinic opened in Caserío El Limón, Claudia and the rest of her neighbors had to walk for as much as three hours to the nearest doctor’s office—not exactly ideal during emergencies, but with no other medical facilities nearby, they had no other option.

“Now, I just walk three minutes to see the dentist and to bring my daughter for her regular health check-ups,” says Claudia.

Due to the pregnancy Claudia had to quit school to be with the baby. At the time, she was in seventh grade. She has not returned to school since Ivana was born. With no job and forced to stay at home with the baby, Claudia finds herself in a difficult financial situation. She often has difficulties making ends meet, even though the baby’s father, who lives with Claudia and Ivana, brings home his meager earnings from doing farm work or sporadic construction jobs.

Claudia appreciates the free medical and dental care she and Ivana receive at the ADRA Mobile Clinic. It’s one less worry.

Although Claudia has put her own education on hold, she plans to become the best mother she can be and give her daughter the best education she can afford.

“I want to thank ADRA for giving us access to doctors so close to our own homes,” says Claudia.