The value of a dollar

Wow! What a crazy week! My first week back kept me busier than I had remembered.

Wednesday…On my first full day of work, a mother of three (5-year-old and 17-month twins) approached me with tears in her eyes, because she could not feed her family. She asked that I allow her to bring her twin boys to the feeding center. Our rules say that the minimum age is 2 years old. Once you break a rule for one person, it is impossible to go back. So, I had to tell her no, which was hard. However, I told her that I would try to help by spending my personal money (not that of the feeding center) to buy some baby formula.

Thursday…I decided to spend some quality time with the workers’ kids (usually 6 kids and one baby) in the daycare. Katrina has spent every day since the kitchen opened with the kids in the classroom. I thought she could use a break, and they were so stinkin’ excited to see me. The best part was the 12-minute nap time.
However, around noon, someone rushed to me in a panic saying that a child was dying. In the chaos, I quickly gathered that one of the volunteers had a one-year-old baby a short distance from the kitchen that her mother was babysitting. The mother had come down to the kitchen screaming and crying that the baby was dying. Aldo and Bryan jumped into the car with me to drive to the baby’s house while the mother, grandmother, and Josue (a good friend) roughed it up the mountain on foot. We all got there at about the same time, and found the baby crying (which was a great sign). The mom with baby and Josue joined us in the car to rush to the nearest emergency hospital. As we drove, I found out that the baby wasn’t eating or chewing anything but stopped breathing for a few seconds. Then, he coughed up some blood.

At the hospital, two doctors inspected him and had no explanation. They only said he had a slight cold and needed medicine. So, after a good scare, we were all relieved to see the baby return to normal behavior. For the doctor’s visit and three medicines, it cost about $7.

Two mothers, three babies, $15. I have learned a different value to money since I have been here. I remember when I was a teenager and began paying for my own things. All of the sudden, I learned to take better care of my possessions and watch where I spent my money. My parents were glad to see me learn “the value of a dollar”. Here, it is an all-new ballgame. A dollar can go so far. For these two mothers, $15 means the world. Many of us spend $15 like it is no big deal. Here, it means life and death for babies.

Love ya,
Jennifer