www.babiesofjuarez.org
In Juarez, a ten-and-a-half-hour drive from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, many babies wear the same diaper for four or more days because the family can’t afford new ones. A mom will go to the store with enough money for one
diaper. The diapers are used and reused until they can no longer hold anything more, and the mom will go back to the store with just enough money to buy a new one. Cloth diapers aren’t an option because water is so scarce in Juarez.
Just ten and
a half hours away, many mothers are too malnourished to breastfeed, and babies are dying due to lack of proper nutrition. A mother’s milk often dries up in the first 30 days after giving birth. Up to twenty-five percent of the babies in Kilometer 30 (an area
in Juarez) don’t live longer than six months. It’s extremely common for parents to not name their babies until after six months because of the terribly high infant mortality rate. Formula is literally life itself to these people.
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