When Disparity rears its ugly head…

I think there are few places where I really notice the disparity between rich and poor as much as what I see it in medical care.  Today I was nailed square between the eyes with the amount of pain that is caused by the lack of adequate care.

Take for instance a little boy who is part of the Day Care.  All indicators seem to point to him having Cerebral Palsy, yet we will wait for a Neurologist to make the final call.  He has many of the signs of CP.  He is 5 years old, yet his mom carries him strapped on her back everywhere she goes…and carries his 2 year old sister in her arms.  Dad left because of his son’s disability and Mom is the only caregiver for him. When he was born everything seemed normal, but 7 days after birth he became partially paralyzed.  Now, here’s the shocker…hold onto your seat or you may find some anger rising up in you, too…Mom took him to the Dr. and he told her that it was a Food Problem.  She asked around and others told her that he didn’t really have a problem.  Other well meaning people told her that she should go to the Priests and they would work to see the spirits cast out of him.  Now, 5 years later he is the happiest guy who you could meet, yet I wonder where he might be if there had been someone with a bit of  intervention, rather than the casting off of a disabled child.

Or consider our little friend who is 2 and is part of the Day Care.  She has Downs Syndrome (which until today had been diagnosed as Autism) and her one leg has been partially paralyzed for 2 years.   This has held her back from crawling or learning to walk.  It had been blamed on neurological issues.  Today we learned that its not neurological, but rather the Dr. says that her hip has been dislocated for over 2 years.   It can be corrected with surgery, but she has been on the waiting list to be seen by a specialist at the hospital for over 1 year now.  We’re going to look into some possibilities so that she doesn’t have to wait much longer.

Hard to swallow.  Yet, I am grateful for how God has fathered these children and how He gives them hope.  We look forward to watching how He intervenes in their lives in the days, months and years to come.