Project

Guatemala: Forgotten Trauma

Samuel Loewenberg ventures to Guatemala to survey the underlying issues of the Central American country's extreme poverty. There, income inequality equals the worst in Africa - particularly among indigenous communities. In some regions, an estimated 75 percent of the children from infants to the ages of 6 and 7 are chronically malnourished. It is a startling example of food scarcity in a country a mere four-hour flight away from the U.S.

Loewenberg also explores Guatemala's close economic ties with the U.S. as Guatemalan workers are being driven out due to immigration crackdowns and the reverberating economic crisis. Many Guatemalans are dependent on remittances sent from the U.S. and experts now worry that the country is facing a demographic time bomb as men return home from the U.S. without work or prospects.

Hungry in Guatemala

In a country plagued by chronic malnutrition, government solutions keep coming up short. The real problem: poverty and income inequality.

Guatemala's Malnutrition Crisis

Although most of Guatemala's children have enough food to eat, many are not receiving the right kind of food. Samuel Loewenberg reports on the country's growing crisis of chronic malnutrition.

In the clean, toy-filled interior of a clinic in Chiquimula, a 9-year-old girl appears to be frowning. Her name is Domitila, and her muscles are too weak to form a smile (see webvideo). Her body is fragile: arms and legs wasted, patches of hair missing, the veins in her legs forming a black web-like pattern that shows through her delicate skin.