- Date of publication 02-11-2008 A lovely gesture of solidarity during the Christmas season……
In the days just prior to Christmas we spent a memorable day with five volunteer doctors, friends of our pastor Humberto, and several health care workers from the parish’s “Policlínico de Campoy” with the objective of offering basic healthcare services for children and their mothers in the rural community of La Vizcachera.
It was the volunteer doctors who chose the site for the campaign, situated facing the land-fill area commonly known here as “el hueco” where several women, men and children work for meager wages recuperating and selling any materials that can be salvaged for recycling purposes. Many children and their mothers participated in this excellent opportunity to consult medical personnel to the sheer delight of everyone involved in the preparations! Several of the doctors commented on the presence of at least two major diagnoses for each child they examined.
An added bonus was the fact that several commonly needed medications were made available free of charge. The blistering heat and ever present gusts of dust didn’t hamper the children’s interest in the action songs and games complete with prizes for the winners! There was a chocolate drink and panetón for most of the children—the supply ran a little short due to the large numbers of participants! Panetón is traditional fruit bread the people here customarily eat during the Christmas season.
The deeper meaning of Christmas also held a focal spot none the less through the recounting of children’s stories reminding all of us of the tremendous gift of the Incarnation for all of humanity—our God becomes present among us in the person of Jesus challenging us still to live by Gospel values and serve as he did.
© Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Evron
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