May 24, 2012
On
Tuesday, our first full day at CREN, we met with Paula the center´s
pediatritian and were introduced to some of the children at the center.
The first was a little girl named Victoria who was severely malnourished
and as a result suffered from a very poorly functioning immune system.
Because her mother felt that she had nothing to give Victoria, she
refused to feed her anything much but breast milk for the entire first
year of her life. As a result, Victoria had difficulty eating and
accepting the solid foods provided to her by CREN. As I watched her cry
in Paula´s lap and heard the story of how she came to the center, I
became extremely emotional and almost started to cry myself.
We then
saw a little boy named Victor who was a year or so older, but even more
lethargic than she was. He came from an abusive home and had five other
siblings. He suffered from a number of ear infections, respiratory
problems and had dental caries that made it difficult for him to eat
solid foods. Seeing these children was an incredibly moving experience
for me. I remember thinking that it was nothing like reading about the
symptoms of malnourishment in class, because they were no longer words
on a page. Now they were transformed into a living, breathing human
being, staring back at me.
Many of
the children at the CREN center grow up in the favelas, or slums, of Sao
Paulo. On Wednesday, we visited one of these favelas and a community
center that had been built within it for use by the residents. I was
unable to bring my camera that day as I was told it was not safe.
Earlier that day there had been a strike due to the shooting of a subway
driver, so tensions in the city were very high and transportation was
difficult. We could only take the subway half way to the center itself,
so we had to walk two miles or so, then take a small bus to the favela.
Two women who worked at the center, a dietitian named Carolina and a
student studying to be a dietitian, escorted us to the community center.
The favela was nothing like I expected it to be. The conditions were
very dangerous, with low hanging wires and poorly constructed overhangs.
The air smelled damp and there were stray dogs running freely. The
entire favela was very claustrophobic, no car would be able to fit on
the dirt walkways between the homes that were stacked one on top of
another.
I noticed that there were a number of construction workers with bulldozers working right next to the section of homes we were walking through, and it was not until we reached the community center that I learned what they were doing. As the residents of the favelas are squatting illegally and not paying to live there, the government will often come without notice and bulldoze sections of homes at random. Imagine waking up one morning in your bed, and by noon that day everything is flattened to the ground. Where do these families even go when they have so little to begin with? It was very difficult for me to listen to and the thought still haunts me.
I noticed that there were a number of construction workers with bulldozers working right next to the section of homes we were walking through, and it was not until we reached the community center that I learned what they were doing. As the residents of the favelas are squatting illegally and not paying to live there, the government will often come without notice and bulldoze sections of homes at random. Imagine waking up one morning in your bed, and by noon that day everything is flattened to the ground. Where do these families even go when they have so little to begin with? It was very difficult for me to listen to and the thought still haunts me.
The good
thing is that these families receive free medical care from the clinics
that are built specifically for their use and professionals are able to
monitor the health of each family member to intervene when necessary.
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