October Milk Day

Milk Day is a busy, happy, hot day. Today, Milk Day began directly after our charla. Lauren Page and Ian welcome the children and mothers into the measuring room where they take each child’s height and weight measurements. Next, Anina and I (Jan Margaret) meet with the mothers one-on-one to review the child’s growth or lack there of. We discuss everything from health of child and family to progress in school to the children’s interests. Today, we also asked mothers about their participation in the recycling and relocation program currently being planned by the Spanish government. Some mothers went to a meeting today with representatives from Spain who are making efforts to move families out of the Chureca neighborhood into new, clean homes nearby while employing them in a to-be-opened recycling plant. Talking with the mothers, I sometimes feel like a doctor or medical professional: I am asked about needed surgeries, birth control, doctor consultations, and other needs. Entrusted with their health needs, I am humbled what I can and can not do and continually try to point everyone in the right direction. Anina and I are also in charge of informing Mothers when they are in risk from bad charla attendance or when their children have grown to the point that they are ready to graduate. It is always exciting to get to know the mothers and children and to give them individualized attention. When the consultation with the families is over, we point them towards Amelia. She is in charge of doling out the appropriate milk, oatmeal, and vitamins for each child. Today, children were able to meet with visiting doctors from Portland, Oregon, who are here to check them up on general health and aid with specific needs as they see fit. Finally, Leah brought her camera to take pictures of the children. We hope to post these pictures on our website so that you can see your child’s growth!

Tuesday, Right Side

Amelia and I were back to our routine of Tuesdays - Right Side, Thursdays - Left Side, and thus, we walked around the right side of the clinic today. We visited almost all of the 13 families living along our route, briefly checking in with some and staying longer at other houses, informing them of the upcoming Milk Day (tomorrow!) and inquiring about some of their sketchy attendance in recent charlas. Accountability in this area is necessary, and today we were surprised by some of the reasons the Mothers could not make it to the charlas during the past month: a necessary trip to get an identification card, etc.

Walking around today, I learned at least two new words: churequear, meaning to work in La Chureca, and the phrase “Llevame en tuto” - “Carry me on your shoulders!” One of the most entertaining (and dirty) parts of the family visits are getting to see some of the children who are out playing in the neighborhood. Often times, this can be an opportunity to get to know new families and potential children for our malnourishment program. Today, we met a delightful little boy living near some of the other children in our program. His bright smile and enthusiasm were traits I see often in the children living in La Chureca, and they are just one more reminder of what this place is, a neighborhood and a home, in addition to being a municipal dump. Walking around, it is surreal to see children playing in the dirt roads right next to a huge pile of trash. For them, it’s home. As a foreigner, it’s not recommended that I stay in La Chureca for more than four hours. FOUR hours. But for the dwellers of La Chureca, this is life. Visiting families, I get a glimpse into life in the La Chureca neighborhood. The harsh realities fade as I laugh with the mothers and toss their children into my arms, but they are never far away due to the sickness, the dirt, and the trash. We hope that by developing our program further, we can help provide for one of the most fundamental needs: the need for food and nutrition.

Tomorrow’s charla will highlight Dengue and H1N1. Stay tuned for more updates as Milk Day is this Wednesday and Thursday. Also, with visiting pediatricians in town, all of the children will be receiving check-ups from two very kind-hearted US doctors. For that, we are very thankful and excited.

October Update

Greetings from the Child Sponsorship Team!

The month of October seems to have flown by! Already, we are approaching our October “Milk Day,” the two days at the end of every month in which we meet with mothers and children for health consultations and allocate the next month’s worth of milk, oatmeal, and vitamins. Each and every Milk Day is interesting, as we are allowed the time to meet with families one-on-one in order to learn about their health situations, progress in school, and general well-being.

Another interesting day for our team, Wednesday is when we hold our weekly health charla - health talk. Every Wednesday mothers of children in our program are required to attend these charlas in order to learn better health practices and then help spread the health education they receive to their families and friends. Charlas are provided by the nurse Esmerelda, ministers of the Health Department, or visiting teams. Last month, topics included gynecological health, infections, and a general well-being charla given by visiting nurses with Austin Samaritans, a partner organization who help to fund the Clinic Casa Base de Salud. The gynecological charla was given in preparation for the week in which the nurses and health professionals came with Austin Samaritans to offer free pap smears to all interested mothers. All in all, about 13 mothers received these needed services.

Our normal routine consists of visiting families bi-weekly in groups of two. Amelia and Jan Margaret take one route on Tuesday, with Lauren Page and Anina visiting the other side of Chureca. On Thursday, we switch sides and visit the remaining mothers. Talking with the mothers every week, we are developing closer relationships with the families and primary caregiver of every child in our program. This has proved helpful as we seek to treat our children’s health needs; we encourage the mothers to bring their health concerns to the local clinic and follow up with Esmerelda. We hope that by getting to know the mothers, we can encourage them and improve our services in La Chureca as we better ascertain their nutritional needs.

For the upcoming month, I will be updating the blog weekly with stories from our visits in hopes that each of you can get better insight into the situation in La Chureca and the families in our program.

Until then, dale pues hombre!

Child Sponsorship

Butterflies

Three days a week, I walk into La Chureca to visit the families involved in Manna’s Child Sponsorship. Two days a week, I trample the trash, hold my breath through the smoke, and sweat under the sun that is endured by Churecans day in and day out. Two days a week, I pass children carrying loads of trash on their backs to be recycled. I greet mothers suffering from ever-present illness. I avoid mangy farm animals who look more like walking nightmares than pets or food. I see people dwelling in a veritable hell on earth.

Seven days a week, I hope for a way out. I coordinate efforts with the Child Sponsorship team to enact new measures to increase the efficiency of our program. I look for new sponsors. I dream for a better life for the children who know of nothing more than life in Chureca.

Every week I visit a family with precious little girls who have captured my heart with their funny haircuts, sweet little pipsqueak voices, and increasing desire to play and be held. They live on the border where the neighborhood merges into the dump, and the view from their front gate is trash, smoke, and the occasional flea-bitten mongrel. But one day, as I held one of the tiny girls in my arms, she looked out over her shoulder, pointed to the trash, and said “¡Hay flores!” There are flowers. Look! Flowers! Do you see them? We’ve got lots of flowers, and animals too! She showed me the beauty she finds in her life, the only life she’s got. Where I saw heaps of trash and green plants growing in puddles of sludge, she saw beautiful flowers. She then ran down to a row of weeds growing along the wall of a nearby home, and pointed out more “flowers.” Her joy was contagious, but as I picked her back up, acknowledging the beauty of the flowers, I fought back quickly forming tears. The injustice of what some children have or do not have is a heartbreaking reality I must face every week.

If she can find beauty in La Chureca, I can too. I find beauty in the people who work to provide for their children and in the mothers who consistently attend health charlas (talks) to learn better health practices. I am encouraged by the mother who makes her child change clothes three times a day to keep clean. I am impressed with mothers I see sweeping the entrance to their homes, cleaning in spite of the fact they live in close proximity to a dump (or perhaps cleaning because of said proximity). Not all are like that here, perhaps not all can be, but the ones who fight for themselves always encourage me.

Walking into La Chureca, I notice every day the bright yellow butterflies which twirl about. They are not ashamed of the smoke, the dirt, the trash. They remain a constant reminder of the life that lives here and of the reason Child Sponsorship is so important. The value and dignity of human life necessitates the meeting of basic needs. Through CS, these children are provided a means to better health, quality of life, and increased opportunity for a successful way out of the desperate existence which surrounds them.

Yours,

Jan Margaret