Sep
11
Written by:
David Strickland
9/11/2007 5:23 AM
We met Manny at church. She was very tall and thin. Her face looked familiar but it wasn’t until after church I realized why. Manny was an orphan. She got pregnant at 13 and lost the child. After that a lady from a local church took her in and helped her as best she could. Unfortunately much of the mental damage had already been done. 4 years ago I met Manny briefly during my first visit she seemed like any other happy teenager. However shortly after that Manny eloped with a young man. The young man can’t seem to keep a job and Manny has been pregnant several times with each ending in a miscarriage because of malnutrition. Manny is on the verge of starvation and has been in the hospital several times for dehydration and malnutrition.
On Sunday when I saw her I smiled and greeted her trying to make sure I did everything properly. In fact I was so worried to make sure I was following all the social etiquettes that if I hadn’t noticed Mercy slipping her some money I may not have even realized there was any problem.
Mercy is into her 7th month of pregnancy, back hurts, can’t sleep and all the things that go along with it. No one could mistake that we are expecting. Manny is also in her 7th month but there is no way to tell. She is thin with sunken checks there hardly seems any possibility the baby is alive.
Mercy told me the story as we drove home from church. Immediately I felt like we should do more. Mercy had given her 100 rs. ($2.50). She would be able to eat on that for a day or two but then what. She only made it to church once a month we had no contact number. I felt like if we didn’t do something we may not ever see Manny again much less ever see her child have a chance at life. I got in contact with a friend who knew where they used to live. He went out there and though they no longer lived there he was able to contact someone that is in contact with them. He gave them our number and came back. All we could do is wait. This afternoon we got the call Manny is on her way to our house. We told her she can stay on the ground floor with the older girls and the caretaker for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll take her to a hospital and have the pregnancy checked. If the child is ok we’ve decided to put Manny up until after the delivery. If the child is dead we will do what ever needs to be done to ensure Manny's health and send her back to her husband. In India It is the Girl’s Mother's job to take care of the mother during pregnancy so taking back in our girls when they are pregnant is something that will likely happen in the future when our girls get married and have kids. Once again it seems we are doing something we didn’t anticipate for at least a couple years.
Who to help. Who not to. The needs here are huge. Manny is starving her child is dying but so are many others. If Manny’s child is born its life is likely to be hard. It will be lucky to make it past its 2nd birthday and if it does there is little chance it will receive any education or a proper home to grow up in. Her parents could easily be dead in a few years leaving the child alone. Manny is a hard worker and wants a better life however her husband is lazy and sees no reason to work to feed his family. As long as he eats that’s enough for him. Manny could work if she didn’t have a child to take care of. It is likely that if the child isn’t dead already it would die unless we intervene. If we do intervene and the child lives Manny won’t be able to work because she will have to take care of the child. If she doesn't work then she won’t eat and once again the child and her are endangered. The child is a life does it not have right to live? Didn’t the parents accept this burden at conception?
I’ve come to understand that you can easily get dragged down into a quagmire of inaction simply by thinking to much about the problem. What is right is to help. What is wrong is to do nothing. Feed the hungry. Help the sick. Do what you can. Leave the rest to God.