Rainbow Families Foundation Newsletter - May 2006

May 2006

I have been continuing to get donations for the Garcia home and buying materials as money comes in. Plus, trying to find the help that agreed to work for free. Easier said than done. Now their 11 year old boy Junior has been in the hospital the past 3 weeks. The four boys sleep in a twin bed and one of Junior's brothers kicked him in the night, knocking his leg near the ankle into the iron bedpost, probably into a rusted nail or screw. Junior's leg swolled and the mother took him back and forth to the public hospital. They gave him a tetnus shot, wrapped the leg and sent him home. He developed a fever which lasted 18 days. We continued back and forth to the hospital but nothing was helping. Junior developed a big seeping hole and then another one that continued to be infected despite antibiotics. I thought he might be diabetic since the hwounds were not healing and took his glucose test with one of the machines the medical team left me. His blood sugar was fine at 70. Finally the mother took him to the private clinic in Santiago where the pediatric doctor has treated him, cleaning the wounds in time before gangrene set in. The doctor was anticipating cutting off his leg. He he was there for 8 days before being transferred to the public children's hospital in Santiago. The doctor was to perform surgery yesterday but was postponed until Monday. In the meantime, when I have not been in Santiago I have been helping with the kids, arriving at 7:30Am and taking the 5 youngest to school in the morning and the afternoon, making sure the 2 oldest girls go to school. None of them like school and it is a constant battle. I spoke with the teacher of the 3 boys in first grade and learned none of the kids have books, notebooks or pencils, which the parents must buy. From the money I received for the house I bought the materials they need and have been tutoring them a little. Two of the boys in first grade will not pass to second. The Cena twins and almost 2 year old baby that needs a pace maker had a checkup with the pediatric cardiologist in Santo Domingo. They are on the schedule for open heart surgeries when the doctors come again from the U.S. I rarely see Jacobo, however, Janny I saw about 2 weeks ago. They are all doing fine except for the occasional colds. I think Jacobo lost the primary election and is out of contention. The election is scheduled 16 May. Everyone will be happy when it's over because all the politicans are blasting announcements in the streets with huge trucks. Anny has been having problems with her vision. I understand she was to see a specialist in Santiago. I forgot to mention that the father from the episcopal church and his wife came from U.S. last Thursday for a baptism. They brought donations from the church for the construction of the home. With the donations I have been able to pay for materials to construct the four walls, the lumber for the frame of the tin roof and the tin for the roof. This includes cement, gravel, sand, block, nails, rebar and maybe something else. The family has moved into a room about the size of 8 x 10 that just fits the bunk bed and double bed with about 2 feet in between.