NERY TUY FAMILY

Nery holding the note and photo from the Reilly family on May 27 2020

Families Connect After reading about this family in our May 2020 newsletter, a family in Hartford, Connecticut responded with a gift.  Greg and Judy Reilly contributed $267 to pay off half of their loan and have pledged to pay the remaining half in three months.  Amilcar delivered the good news, Q2,000 from the Reilly’s to pay the loan, and Q1,300 from our critical care fund to reimburse Nery for his followup medical expenses.  Here’s the heartfelt note from the Reilly’s to the Tuy family:

First, Vidalia’s hip surgery

Vidalia, age 12, needed hip surgery in a hospital in Guatemala City.  Having no money for the surgery and worried about their daughter Nery Tuy, and his wife Ana Maria, approached the health clinic for help.  Our Critical Care Fund supported Vidalia and she was successfully operated on in July 2019.  Her recovery has progressed slowly and each trip to see the surgeon meant a painful ride over very rough roads from her village to the highway and then another two hours to reach Guatemala City.  She can not walk slowly using support from a walker.

PFG nurses delivered food to Nery and his family May 13 2020

For the Tuy family of five, life is a daily struggle.  Mom stays home to care for their three daughters.  Nery works in masonry and agriculture and earns about $6.50 a day. The family’s small income is spent on food with barely enough left to cover additional household expenses.

With restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 crisis, many people in Guatemala are now without work, so Nery was relieved to find a construction job earning enough money to buy food for his family.

Nery suffers an eye injury

After only a few weeks on the job Nery suffered a terrible accident. A piece of firewood sliced one of his eyes and he was taken by ambulance to the closest hospital. Unfortunately, they could not treat him so referred him to a hospital in Guatemala City. But Nery had no means of transportation to make the one-hour journey to the capital. He was in extreme pain, and as the 4 pm government curfew approached, he and his wife feared they would be detained by the police. The situation was now critical.

Because of the severity of his injury, Nery could not return home. His only option was to go a private hospital where he remained for two days, settling his account with Q 3,500 ($467), money his family had to borrow.  The doctors gave Nery instructions to rest and not return to work for several weeks; if not, he risked losing his eye. He is still out of work and the family has had to survive on a few food donations from their neighbors.

PFG nurses deliver food

Knowing the dire situation they family was in, our nurses delivered groceries and hygiene items on May 13, 2020.  When his bag of groceries was delivered Nery expressed his gratitude:  “For us, this is a work of God. He always listens to us and never abandons us. We have gone through great difficulties and there are times when I despair and cry, but God knows our needs and sends people to help us. I thank the people who made this possible, and hope that life rewards them greatly.”

Nery making the loan payment thanks to Grey and Judy Reilly, May 27 2020

Ana Maria stands next to her stove in the family kitchen

Tuy family poses together