Rosa Maria and Isabel
Rosa Maria (20) and Isabel (3)
Rosa Maria and her daughter Isabel, who suffers from cerebral palsy, have been living in the Mothers & Babies unit at Casa Alianza for two years.
Rosa Maria, her boyfriend and Isabel lived in a village near the Mexican border, but when he was accused of stealing, they fled northwards in the hope of joining Rosa Maria's mother who lives in the US. Her mother didn't have any money to enable them to travel, so they ended up on the streets of Mexico City, where they were found by Casa Alianza's workers and brought back to Guatemala. Isabel's father has since vanished, and Rosa Maria finds it very difficult to care for her young daughter. Isabel is getting treatment through the charity, but there dismally few facilities in Guatemala for people with disabilities "I was ashamed of my daughter, and I was tempted to give her away. But now I'm happy that we're together and she's making progress."
Casa Alianza cares for fifteen young mothers and their babies at a facility on the outskirts of the city. The problems they face are numerous, not least that many of the mothers are children themselves.