We have changed the name of the girl and her son to protect her.
The girl who needed help, "Edith" came to us first time and asked for help for her son Juniel. Edith was probably pregnant before she was fifteen, and the father had vanished.
Ediths father is dead, and her mother has a live-in partner. They cannot rent a house anymore. Both of them drink a lot, and young Edith does not want to stay with them anymore. She stays with a poor relative, and the child was undernourished.
This child was quite sick the first time they came visiting Lolo Puti. Doctor, food and vitamins did help, but it has gone too far the first year, and the head does not look too good. The doctor wants the head of the baby scanned, which has to be done in Bacolod, about two hour ride across from San Carlos City on the other side of Negros.
We don't yet know what it costs, and what diagnosis the child will receive. We just have to find out.
I stumble along the road
it's tough but I guess I may,
and if I get a stone beneath my shoe
I'll stumble anyway
I'd rather be last of the herd
and called tiny or slow
than being so hard under my feet
I cannot feel a stone*
(Margaret Skjelbred, translated quickly by Lars)
*We're not going to miss that stone. When Don Don(my helper) and Lolo Puti next month take the car to Bacolod to renew visa, mama Edith and Juniel will be in the back seat on their way to the hospital for a check-up. We'll follow up the story later on.