Take Care Kids

I am not a father...I don’t have children...but the experience I have been living for more than ten years keeps on giving me such strong emotions, that I believe are the same as any father’s....let’s go back where we left off....I was about to tell you of our field trip with the deaf kids from the Orphanage. Our volunteer Giorgia, decided to buy them lunch before going back to Italy. There are no adequate adjectives to faithfully describe this heart filling trip..... these children are extraordinary, so sensitive, always looking for physical or visual contact in order to fully share our and their emotions....and the way they eat.......like wolves....always smiling...they enjoyed everything, down to the ice cream.....then, as I was spending time with these kids, I received a phone call....a child from the slums, Tan, is feeling sick, he has a very high fever....we must see a doctor...so I run to the slums, get him and his mother and rush to the hospital, where the doctor is waiting for us....and then we get the diagnosis....food poisoning....the high fever is caused by a virus which proliferates in degraded environments....but thanks to the medicines Tan will soon get better....I am happy....though I know there’s still much to do.....and I soon prove myself right...the following day I get another phone call from the slums....I go back there and I find a man who can barely stand....his legs look more like breadsticks, and his skin is darkened, but not by the sun.....Aids.....I have seen so many cases at Father Giovanni’s center, I can spot them right away.....he tells me he has a wife and a daughter, her name is Un....she’s fourteen months old...I decide to visit them the following day, when the whole family is together....sadly, for the parents (both affected by the virus) there’s not much we can do..but we need to screen little Un immediately, because we notice little sores all over her body....so we go....Anna and I take Un on another stroll to the hospital...after the usual introductory visit and after seeing a dermatologist for the sores it’s time for the blood test…waiting for the results is mind breaking, though Un keeps us all happy by jumping all over the place and running around like a spinner…..the result is Negative…..we look at each other with relief..almost exhausted by the ordeal….Little Un will now receive treatment for her sores and we will always keep an eye on her….So you see my friends, when we can do something for these people, the poorest among the poor, I always think of you over there in Italy, spending your free time and donating your money for the wellbeing of these little friends of ours….and I think of all the words you spend to tell people about what we do here, in a land that is so far away from our own……thank you....