CHILD
of the month

By Rich Petersen

Abraham de Jesús Gamboa

 

child-may09Meet one of the most recent children who has come to the attention of Niños Incapacitados —Abraham de Jesús Gamboa Quiñónez. Quite a name for an eight-year-old little guy, no? In fact, Abraham turned eight just three days following his visit to the last Niños Incapacitados meeting in April.

Abraham is seen here with his mother, María Magdalena, a housewife who lives in Chapala with her husband Carlos and five other children. Abraham is the second youngest in the family, who range in age from 14 to one year.

At birth Abraham’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck so that he suffered from asphyxia during several crucial moments and therefore he now suffers from a slight degree of mental slowness. Nonetheless, he attends the “Blue School” in Chapala and is doing well. This is a school for children with special needs.

While an infant Abraham was prone to convulsions during some months, again due to the lack of sufficient oxygen immediately following birth. Fortunately the convulsions no longer occur, but during the treatment for them, the doctors found that one of his kidneys was malformed and was not functioning as it should. There is a small blockage which inhibits the free flow of urine from the kidney to the ureter and this has resulted in his left kidney only having 34% of its normal function. His right kidney function is 66%.

As we all are aware, a human being can get along just fine with only one kidney, so at present Abraham is being monitored closely for any sign of kidney or urinary tract infection. He is on no medications at present because he is free of infection. Niños Incapacitados has paid for his latest kidney function test (a gammagram) as well as bus trips to and from the Hospital Civil.

The group will also be paying for glasses for Abraham since another consequence of his oxygen deprivation is short-sightedness. His teachers noted immediately that he was having trouble seeing the blackboard in class and also was having trouble reading. By the time this article is published, he should be the proud owner of a new pair of glasses.

You can see from the photograph the bright eyes and winning smile of this young man. He loves to play tag and hide-and-seek and he would love to have a bicycle of his own to ride around town. At the end of his visit to our last meeting, Abraham wouldn’t leave until he had shaken the hand of every one of the group, always with a smile (and a peck on the cheek for the women).

Niños Incapacitados welcomes you to our monthly meetings, the second Thursday of every month, 10:00 a.m. at La Nueva Posada. Volunteers and new members are always needed to help with ongoing fundraising activities to help the children in our area whose families are in need of financial help to assist with medical expenses. The May meeting on the 14th will be the last until September, as we hold no regular meetings during the summer months when so many Lakeside residents are away. For further information and to read about other children enrolled in our Program, please visit our website: www.programaninos.org or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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