Are Inspiring Hope

Juana Gamarra is a 25 year-old single mother with three young children. When a doctor in the city recently told her she had hepatitis-B, she returned home in tears because she didn’t understand and thought she would soon die. She didn’t want to return to the doctor, but instead went to the library where she found a book about hepatitis. She began to cry again, but this time her tears were from happiness because she learned that her illness could be cured.

Juana took the two-hour bus ride back to the city and told the doctor she was feeling better. When asked why, she explained that she learned about hepatitis-B from a book in the library and she thought she could now be cured. The doctor was surprised that she’d thought she would die, and that there was a library in her remote “caserío”. He went to see for himself how the little library was helping the community, and returned again later to donate health books and give a free hepatitis prevention workshop.

Happily, Juana has since recovered and continues to bring her children and help out at the library almost every day.