My Friend Willliam

Boy did it rain last night. The sort of rain that comes along only every so often. The sort of rain that has people stop whatever they are doing and stare through their windows in disbelief. The sort of rain that causes damage and flooding.

The rain really got me thinking about all of the people living in the “Jovencitos” (a term used to describe the squatter or invasion communities that encircle many of the urban centers in Latin America). Their floors are dirt and their roofs are woven mats. The rain for them is much more than a simple inconvenience.

Look, I am from Portland – we know rain; and the rain that came down over a short 5-hour period last night was amazing. This morning on my run I saw makeshift dams that people built with ciliar rocks (compressed volcanic ash that is quarrierd close to the surface in and around the Arequipa area; this is the etiology of the famous "White City") and dirt to divert the water from flooding their homes. The streets all around our area are caked with mud and dirt. The dirt roads that lead to the poorest settlement communities have been distorted from the channels of water that developed in the middle of the by-ways.

The rain really got me thinking about a young friend of mine living in a Jovencito in Lima. William, not his real name, is one of the lucky ones – sort of. He and his family live in the back of a restaurant high in the hills. Their floor is concrete and the roof that protects them from the elements is a finely placed corrugated structure. They never have to worry about the rain.

“I have a small ‘problemo’ that happens 4-5 times every day at school,” William told me. William’s “problem” has significantly altered his life. His problem has caused an otherwise shy 12-year old boy to retreat into isolation. His problem is taking a significant toll on his emotional and mental development.

William was born with hydrocephalus or “water on the brain” (it is actually a build up of CSF - but much folklore surrounds the idea of "water" accumulation). The developing world knows its fair share of hydrocephaly cases; and for the most part, has initiated the necessary resources to adequately deal with the population of patients afflicted with the condition.

When William was very young a shunt was place in his head that would drain the fluid into his abdomen. The procedure is not without risk, but a fairly common procedure none-the-less. When William was a bit older he had another surgery to replace the original shunt – this is where his “problemo” started.

As best I can tell from talking with William’s mother and examining the young boy – this second procedure brought a myriad of complications. The complication that most affects William (and an issue he refers to as his “problemo”) is born out of a problem with a tiny nerve. During William’s second procedure the nerve that helps him control his bladder function and his anal sphincter was cut. This seemingly minor issue has led to fecal and urinary incontinence.

“I can handle the ‘problemo’ – it is just the smell. I am really embarrassed for the smell.”

William wears protective undergarments. He told me that we can go through up to 10 pair of “protection” per day. He always fears that time at school when he runs out of “protection.” He fears the inevitable attention and ridicule that comes.

His family is very poor – and although they work to ensure that William has enough “protection” to attend school, he never has enough.

HBI is working with the Anglican Church to develop a nursing care coordinator position. We envision a position that will train a person that will be available to advocate for William’s needs, help with care enrollment for Ines, and work to connect the dots of care for many of the fragile children living in desperate poverty in the Pueblos Jovenes of Lima.

Please keep William in your thoughts, your prayers, your meditations, your good intentions. Please help us to let William know that he is not alone.

I can't catch my breath!

A few months back I Blogged (See: Lima - The City that Never Sleeps) about a woman and her family who have been crippled by a number of tradegies. Her name is Margaretia and her story is one of thousands of similarly tragic stories about poverty and a lack of access to resources.

On Saturday we visited Margaretia and her four children. The drive up to the community where she lives is on broken roads and past crumbling houses. She is 42-years old, but has been trapped in the body of a woman many years her senior. She is barely able to catch her breath - and has been confined to the familys small shack of a home for most of the last 2-years. Afraid to stress the tubing that is her life-line and her connection to a tank of oxygen.

The floor of their home (like that of many of their neighbors) is dirt. The new walls that provide protection from the elements were a recent donaiton from the Anglican Church - along with a new corrugated roof to protect them from the sun. In the past they have depended upon woven ratan mats and a plastic cover to protect them from the cold and wind of the exposed sand hills.

The day we arrived - Margareita was sitting in her chair in the first room of the home gasping for breath. She had been to the hospital the day before and the doctors told her that it would be best to place her into the hospital until she could regain her strength and "normalize" (not that she is ever able to completely breathe normally) her breaths. She refused - "what would I do with my children?"

Her frail body is strained by the increased metabolic demand to fight for breath. She seems almost defeated by the challnege of working so hard to keep air in her lungs. Yet, she continues to comfort her two small children and mentor the two older adolescents. She knows that one day their lives will be dramatically changed; for one day (perhaps soon) she will no longer be able to fight the fight she needs to in order to breath.

The lives of the people living in the peri-urban squatter communites of Lima are filled with stories like Margarieta - and the work to bring compassion and justice to these forgotten individuals must go on. HBI is working in collaboraiton with the Anglican Church of Peru to create a "saftey net" to help coordinate care, collaborate resources and develop hope for the thousands of people who suffer in silence. People like Margareita and her beautiful children.

Thank you for continuing to support the work of HBI and our many in-country parnters. Please consider Margareita and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Together we can make a difference - and together we can change the world, one person at a time!