Colombia's Wayúu people live on land rich in resources. So why are their children dying of hunger?

The region's challenging economic situation exacerbates the problem. Formal job opportunities are scarce in La Guajira, and agriculture is limited by the water shortage. Wayúu communities rely on traditional weaving, goat herding and wood gathering to provide for their families, but these activities often do not cover the families' living costs.

Alba Epieyu, 44, sometimes walks to Manaure from her community, Poloshi, early in the morning to avoid the scorching sun and sell the mochilas (handbags) she weaves. She receives 20,000 Colombian pesos a bag (about £4), but weaving them takes days, and the profit from selling them only buys enough food for a day or two.

"We make a living from making mochilas, but the buyers don't want to pay a fair price. We still have to give them away because we are hungry, and I have to feed my children," says Epieyu in Wayuunaiki, the language of Wayúu communities, as she stands by the sandy road. Many Wayúu people do not speak Spanish and are illiterate, adding additional barriers to their economic activities.

This poverty-induced food insecurity often has the greatest impact on the children. Noreli Uriana, Alba Epieyu's daughter, lost her son three days after he was born.

At the family cemetery, close to the grave of Uriana's child, another two cement blocks hold the remains of two brothers who died in 2022 and 2023. One of them was also a newborn. In this cemetery of 21 graves, five are those of children.

In La Guajira, hunger is closely linked to water scarcity. As people often say in this region: "In La Guajira, water is gold." And it is in short supply.

On the same sandy road where Epieyu stood, people from at least five other communities are waiting to receive water, which is delivered by truck. The supply is irregular; today, a water truck passes by without stopping. On its return journey, the driver decides to stop but only fills half a 500-litre tank.

That half-filled tank is meant to supply a family of 12. According to the World Health Organization, 20 litres per person daily is the minimum safe amount of water for drinking and cooking. The family are forced to eke out their meagre supply as there is no assurance of when the truck will return to provide more.

The government water distribution programme says trucks should provide to families every two weeks. However, the water distribution company servicing the Manaure region acknowledges that it cannot meet the minimum water supply to all municipalities. "Community leaders come to request water distribution. As we have the capacity, we send the truck. But in reality, we can't cover the demand. There are more than 1,300 communities," says Adis Ruiz, manager of Triple A, Manaure's water supply company.

Even when the trucks do return on schedule, many communities do not have reservoirs to store the water this long. The Wayúu people often rely on artificial ponds that collect rainwater or artisanal wells, where the water is often unsafe for consumption as animals contaminate it.

Such contamination is a concern for a community a few miles from Alba Epieyu's home, where about 20 people gather next to an artisanal well, collecting the muddy-looking water for drinking and cooking.

They have walked with their animals to the well to slake their thirst and load their donkeys to return home. A collection of logs covers the water and provides a precarious platform from which to access the well. Last year, a community member died after falling into the water.

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In 2017, Colombia's constitutional court ruled that the state must guarantee basic rights such as water, food and health for Wayúu children. However, the challenges for these communities remain unresolved, according to reports from the ombudsman's office from 2022 and 2023.

In November 2023, the comptroller general's investigation found fiscal irregularities and revealed that at least 95 out of the 265 children who died from malnutrition in La Guajira between 2018 and 2022 were a part of protection programs run by the Colombian Institute for Family Wellbeing (ICBF) under the ministry of social development. The organisation was found to have failed in identifying malnourished children who were at risk of death.

Astrid Cáceres Cárdenas, institute director since March 2023, said that the ICBF planned to take legal action against five organisations that offer services to the institute. She also recognised that the institution "is not being effective in the face of child malnutrition, as the comptroller said in its report on the 2018 to 2022 period."

Although La Guajira has been at the heart of leftwing president Gustavo Petro's administration - the government transferred his entire cabinet of ministers to the department for a week towards the end of his first year in office - this attempt at crisis management has not provided results.

The Colombian secretary of transparency identified La Guajira as the fourth department most exposed to corruption in the country.

Corruption allegations persist within the region, as in the case of a criminal complaint that had been filed against a number of people linked to a contract to purchase 40 water trucks.

The allegations led to the resignation of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) director, Olmedo López. He stated in a resignation letter that his "lack of experience" as a public manager may have hindered his management, but he denied any allegations of corruption.

In Uribia, 20km inland from Manaure, the trucks are now stuck in an army base, without insurance for transit. Added to this, the new UNGRD director, Carlos Carrillo, has said in an interview that this type of vehicle is unsuitable for the region, and in any case, the local aqueducts do not have enough water to supply them.

A health brigade programme covering remote villages also recently ceased operations despite the fact that during one of their last visits to the community of Karawichon - two hours from Maicao - the doctors said they had identified two new cases at risk of malnutrition. According to Gina Paneflek, coordinator at the Health Territorial Teams, the restart of the health brigades is imminent, but the exact date remains unknown.

"These people [the health brigade] will not come back in a long time," says Arturo Gonzales, a member of the community of Karawichon, whispering while children and adults pass by him to be weighed, measured and receive medicine. He is right: one mother of a two-year-old child unable to walk, who believes his condition is due to malnutrition, was told that a team would return once a week to examine the at-risk children. The families are still waiting for the brigade's visit. According to community members, in four years, about 10 children have died of malnutrition.

These families go to Maicao for food once a month. The transport costs them about 40,000 pesos and they will be charged the same amount again to see a doctor.

In La Guajira, most of the food programmes, including those for school-age children, pregnant mothers, newborns and malnourished children, have not helped or are now irregular, another alleged failure by the ICBF denounced by the comptroller's office.

According to Emily Alarcón, the director of Indigenous Affairs for Manaure, this is due to irregularities found in contracts with the ICBF. The current institute director acknowledged the irregularities at the beginning of March. "They found many companies with the same address, the same name, and the same target. In addition, they received full payment without finishing the contract," she says.

The Guardian contacted the ICBF to enquire about the future of the food programmes but did not receive a response.

The residents of La Guajira feel neglected. "In my house, there is nothing to eat. We are dying of hunger," says 10-year-old Clara Epieyu after returning from picking wild cactus fruits near her home in Joumana. That day, she did not receive the school meal she was entitled to. "Dogs at least search for food and find it, but what are we supposed to do?"