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| Juana and Solanyi in front of their tiny home. |
Although it was well before noon, the air was thick and muggy from overnight rains. Sloshing through mud on the short walk to the door of their shack, the flies were already buzzing in droves when we met the Varela family.
Located on the outskirts of the Dominican Republic’s capital – Santo Domingo – the Varelas live near the community center in a neighborhood known as the “Barrio of Flowers.”
Juana Mercedes Valera, 25, lives next door to her 52-year-old aunt. Both women are mothers of sponsored children. They both also share the daily difficulties of living in terrible poverty.
Helping each other whenever possible isn’t just a matter of familial and neighborly courtesy. For them, cooperation is a matter of survival.
To prevent thieves from stealing what little they own, Juana said, “One person must stay home at all times. We cannot lock our doors because our padlocks have been broken.”
Juana’s 6-year-old daughter, Solanyi, suffers from asthma…a condition exacerbated by the Caribbean island’s heat and humidity.
“My daughter spent two months in the hospital once,” said Juana. “That was before sponsorship – a little over two years ago. I get so desperate I almost scream sometimes when my daughter gets sick.”
Solanyi’s 4-year-old brother lives with their father. He left them not long after the younger sibling’s birth. “I can’t do odd jobs because my mother is sick and I take care of her," says Juana. Juana’s mother suffers from tuberculosis and her father is physically limited due to a hernia.
Although she was obviously reluctant to complain, Juana admitted that she leads a “…very difficult life. The hardest part,” she said, “is finding food. I often have no food so I must take my daughter to my parents to ask them to feed her.”
When asked how she copes with leading such a hard life, Juana answered, “I think about my daughter. I often wish I weren’t alive, but I think of my daughter and how hard it would be for her if I weren’t here.”
She added that, “Thanks to sponsorship, [Solanyi] now receives breathing treatments on a regular basis.” It also helps that she no longer has to pay for her daughter’s medication on her meager income of roughly US$20.00 a week.
As a result of sponsorship, Juana’s and her daughter’s lives have improved dramatically. In the less than two years since Solanyi began receiving benefits, Juana said, “I have noticed a big change.”
Photo by Jennifer Spaw |
