This is the month when
Mexico celebrates its Independence Day. Unfortunately most Mexicans,
especially at the border, feel held captive by the violence related
to the drug wars. One human rights worker in the diocese of Juarez
commented, “Mexico stands on two legs: corruption and impunity.”
Despite the infusion of thousands of Mexican soldiers to the city of
Juarez there have already been more murders as of this writing than
in all of 2008, a year in which homicides in Juarez accounted for a
quarter of those in the entire country.
No one really knows what
to do. We keep on doing what we can in our little corner of Anapra
to be a place of peace, hope and compassion. We offer a refuge
from the desperate poverty and isolation that our families experienced
before the escalation of drug violence but now feel more acutely.
We spend time with young people like Cindy who has cerebral palsy and
worsening scoliosis. At age 20-something she mostly just lays
in a dirty bed at home, eating dry tortillas and drinking milk from
a baby bottle. When she comes to the clinic with her younger sister/caretaker
the first thing she gets is a bath in the Jacuzzi. Then she sits
in a chair at the center of the “action”, watching the comings and
goings, the treatments, the children playing. She is fed as much
of Siba’s vegetable chili as she will eat, washed down with lots of
lemonade.
Karen, age 13, with Down’s
syndrome comes with her mother who always brings along some homemade
salsa or salad to share for the clinic lunch. Karen also loves
her time in the Jacuzzi which she is always happy to share with one
or two of her girlfriends. It’s not at all unusual for her to
snuggle up to one of the women giving therapy to another child and to
help by putting her own hands gently upon them. Karen’s mom
told us that her older sisters asked, “What do they do with Karen
at that clinic? She is so happy when she comes home.”
Her mom just smiled and said, “She has friends there and they love
her!”
We also had a wonderful
surprise this month when Mari, the mother who lost two tiny sons to
a mysterious wasting syndrome, returned for a visit. She brought
her precocious four year old, Lesli, who is now in pre-kindergarten
and her beautiful bouncing nine month old daughter, Milagro. She
sat in the corner of the clinic where she had spent so many days with
her sons. Many of our moms whose children are now resting in God’s
arms return to feel close to them again and to renew friendships with
those mothers who still bear the beautiful burden of caring for a child
with special needs.
This is what we can do. We can be there in compassion and solidarity.