Maltreatment

So this 1.5 year old girl, Wonji (or something like that) is her name. She was discovered in a nearby village while the Crossroads group was going through. They were scheduled for other things so I had the opportunity to take her to the hospital in Puerto Plata. She was severely dehydrated (see top left photo) and malnourished, along with being very itchy and spotted with rash, bug bites, and skin infection. We went to the E.R. first where she was then transferred to the peds ward. She got an IV and fluids started into her body again, for the first time in an obviously long time. She was well enough to leave after a few days, but on the follow up, the family was without any milk to feed her. As the mom was just given cans of milk to feed the baby, she made it clear she had sold the baby's food. The baby was then offered to be cared for by Crossroads (the other group in the village, their link is on the right), so she is back in the village in the warm arms of lots of people that love her and feed her. She is scared, cries a lot, and doesn't like to be left alone or laid down. Hopefully she will be strong enough and stable enough to think about what her future is...if she'll go back with her family or look for someone to long-term care for her. For tonight though, she is safe and well-fed.