Today we share with you Petronilo’s story of motivation.
His work as a Health Promoter impacts the quality of life of the people in his community, and for him, his role as a servant is a priority, no matter his own problems or circumstances. Petronilo’s love for his brothers and sisters inspires us! Thank you for helping him follow his calling to serve.
Petronilo Gaitán is the Health Promoter of Fila Grande, in Matagalpa. One evening in 2016, Janet arrived to the community clinic with Juan, her three-month old baby who was barely moving. He had trouble breathing, and his skin looked blue. Janet was desperate.
Petronilo was recovering from a surgery and was still walking around with drainage tubes in his body. However, when his wife told him about the baby and the symptoms, he knew he had to do something.
“I asked my wife and grandchild to help me stand up. I knew the last bus to take them to the nearest government health center had left long ago, and we were more than 25 miles away from a nurse or doctor. If I didn’t help them, that baby was going to die.”
Even though his whole body hurt, Petronilo carried on.“The possibility of that baby dying was more painful than my physical pain,” he said.
“I examined little Juan and verified he had trouble breathing and that his condition was serious. Following what we learn in trainings with AMOS I applied salbutamol to help him breath better and gave him amoxicillin. I kept the baby in the clinic and 2 hours later I saw his skin was gaining color and his respiratory frequency was getting better. Four hours later, it was noticeable that the baby was able to breath better.”
“For the glory of God, little Juan is growing up healthy and beautiful, and his family is incredibly happy.”
Petronilo lovingly serves over 700 people living in his community, with a special emphasis on the most vulnerable: children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
Thank you for helping us to improve the lives of vulnerable families in Nicaragua, so that they can have health and hope.