Rosina’s little boy coughed, and she could hear the phlegm in his chest. Pneumonia battered his lungs. Rosina knew what to expect; it wasn’t the first time one of her two sons had gotten sick with pneumonia.
“We often get sick,” Rosina says. “The most common sicknesses we face [are] pneumonia and cough and cold and headache. These kinds of sicknesses are very much rampant here in this area.”
The area Rosina lives in was situated at the foothills of a mountain range 3,000 meters in elevation. Because of the high altitude, villagers experienced cooler weather year-round, but the winter season brought exceptionally brutal cold temperatures. The cold, dry air chaffed the skin on their fingers, cheeks and lips, leaving them cracked and sore. It also dried out the membranes in their noses and throats, leaving people vulnerable to infections.
Though pneumonia was common, it could become life-threatening if not treated properly. Rosina had taken her son to the hospital, which was more than four hours away, for treatment. She didn’t have a lot of resources to spare—few people in her area did. Her husband, like others, had traveled to a neighboring district looking for work as a carpenter in house construction. He sent home what he could, and with this and what she was able to earn working in the fields during the short growing season, Rosina managed to provide her children with essentials but not much else.
Thankfully, her son recovered without medical bills sinking them deeper into poverty. It was only a matter of time, however, before he or his brother got sick again.
Living in an ‘Icebox’
Cold drafts swooshed through the openings in Rosina’s rented home. The plastic sheets covering the areas susceptible to drafts were no match for the wind. With no radiator or central heating, the inside of her home felt like an icebox—especially at night. Rosina depended on her kitchen stove, a space about 2 feet by 3 feet, dug out in the floor of her home and filled with firewood ash, to heat their living area. Inadequate insulation, however, couldn’t keep the warm air in.
