Al-Quaida network in Syria, Missouri shootings of two
Officers, Indiana State University campus shooting, No Troops on the Ground,
oil refineries destroyed, five family members found dead in Utah home, Oregon
teen accused of bringing homemade bomb to school, etc., etc., etc. are all part
of one news site on a single day! We
are worn out! The rapid fire tragedies are so quick that we cannot keep track.
Most frustrating of all is that there is little we can do about any of it,
other than talk, worry and feel helpless and depressed.
It is such a relief to leave the cell phone and
computer as I walk the streets of the colonias. I meet a family whose child is
dying because they cannot afford the bus tickets to the hospitals in Monterrey
where their child can receive chemotherapy. The insurance pays the cost of the
treatment. Their child is dying because they cannot raise $300 for bus fare.
That we can easily fix! Check that off: child’s life saved. Next? A wonderful afterschool
program for children ages 4 through 7 needs $1500 a month to keep open. Without
the program these children go home to empty houses because their parents do not
get off work for another four hours. Check that off! Next? The Vargas family is
selling plates of food and organizing a raffle so that their child can have
surgery, but they are not able to reach the amount needed. We provide ingredients
for the meals and a few raffle prized. They now will earn enough to pay for the
surgery. Check that off. We learn about an old couple in their 80’s that need
help. We call the Divine Providence Nursing Home (that we help to support).
Immediately the board director arranges transportation and a place for the
couple at Divine Providence. Check that off.
I can’t solve many problems, but those that I can solve get
solved. The people we help are doing all that they can do to solve their own
problems, but sometimes a little help makes all the difference. We are not just
tossing money at problems and we are not just talking about what we are ‘gonna
do’. We work with the families, schools, DIF (social services), Mexican
charities, managers and house parents at shelters and make things better. I can’t
cure a child of cancer, but I can help the child in his or her fight. I am too
dumb to even suggest a solution to the problems in the daily news. I can only
try to help to give the poor a fighting chance.
Fix what I can. Do it right now.
