This is a particularly special post, and is comprised of activities and interactions over several days on our trip. We focus primarily on the Baby Help center in this post, but since we had the opportunity to actually visit the homes of 3 families during our week who receive services from Baby Help, we are also documenting those experiences specifically.

About Baby Help
Housed within the confines of LaDor VaDor is the Baby Help center, a JDC-supported facility that supports the emotional, nutritional, and social needs of children through 5 years of age who are severely disadvantaged at home. The facility is amazing – the staff provide nurturing care to children who otherwise would not have the opportunity for a safe and healthy upbringing.

Although brief, our visit to Baby Help was incredible. We brought with us various baby clothes, bottles, and supplies that the facility needs. But perhaps more importantly for the children, we brought new faces to brighten up their day. We spent time playing with kids of various ages, ranging from toddlers through 5 year olds. This was a lot of fun for everyone.

Behind each smiling face, however, is a sad story about a difficult home life. We made visits to the homes of three of these children, along with Viviana, the JDC’s Director of Welfare Programs in Argentina. She runs Baby Help, among other programs.

To protect the dignity and anonymity of these families, we have changed their names and are excluding their pictures. We truly wish we could share their smiling and crying faces with you, but we cannot risk exposing the fact that they are so poor and receiving Baby Help assistance to other members of their communities; doing so could damage the amazing progress these social programs have afforded these families by assisting them in providing the safe and fulfilling upbringing these children deserve.

Here are their stories…

Jacob, Freya, Angie, and Rachel visited the home Samuel, a 3-year old from Baby Help.
This morning we went to visit the home of Margarita and her son Samuel. Margarita went through a truly difficult time in her life starting a little over 3 years ago. She and the father of her son met while working 4 years ago. They had a son named Samuel when Margarita was in her early twenties. When Samuel was 7 months, Margarita noticed several bruises on his head and on his leg while bathing him. She asked her husband to accompany her to the hospital and he neglected to do so; her mother went with her instead. When they got there, the hospital asked if Samuel had been hit or neglected in any fashion and she did not believe so. It turned out that he had a fracture in his skull and a bruised or broken femur bone. He spent a week in intensive care and approximately another 5 weeks in the hospital. When Margarita confronted Samuel’s father, he eventually admitted to her that Samuel had fallen out of the bed onto the floor. When Margarita told this information to social workers at the hospital, she further confessed that she had been the victim of physical violence herself 3 times. At this point the father moved out, and it was just Margarita, Samuel, and her mother in a small 1 bedroom apartment. Margarita eventually was forced to leave her job as even after a 6 month un-paid leave of absence, she could not make work regularly due to continued visits to court to settle things with the father and other matters. She first turned to AMIA for help and eventually was introduced to the Baby Help center. This was the first smile we had witnessed while she told us her story. She said Samuel truly enjoyed his time there, especially the interaction with the other youngsters and the staff. Margarita had concerns regarding both Samuel’s physical and mental development due to the his early trauma. She said the skills and exposure he received at Baby Help truly helped with these issues. She is now working again in the evenings and working diligently to get scholarships for Samuel, who, now at the age of 4, will be “graduating” from Baby Help. Yet another challenge in her life will be to find funding for school. She is extremely optimistic and positive, loves her son dearly and wishes to provide him with the best economic environment, family, and let him achieve his dreams. It was truly special to spend time with a mother and son who were directly impacted the Baby Help center.

David, Greta, and Nathaniel visited the home of Matthew, a 3-year old from Baby Help.
This afternoon, we visited the home of Matthew, one of the children in Baby Help. He lives with his parents, and his mother spoke to us about her family’s struggle. Upon entering the apartment, she informed us that her husband was in the back room with the lights out and the shades drawn, because, as she told us, he cannot deal with natural light. She told us that he was dealing with with a mental disorder and could not work. She also told us that she had lost her job as an administrator and relied on Baby Help to provide basic needs for her children. Upon touring the apartment, we noticed that the toilet was leaking and the bathtub with black with mold. The kitchen cabinets were broken and the outside porch was used as storage, with items placed in plastic bags, because there is no where else to put anything. There was an overall sense of helplessness and fear of teetering on the edge. At any moment the situation can take a turn for the worse and the family will have nothing. The grandfather had given the family the apartment and asked them to pay whatever they can, otherwise they would have nowhere else to live.
This situation highlighted the importance of Baby Help, AMIA and the overall Jewish community in meeting the needs of its most at risk populations. After seeing Matthew in baby help and then in his home, it is clear that without Baby Help he would have no access to the emotional and intellectual support he is given there. Matthew’s mom described his teachers as second moms and said how grateful she is for Baby Help. When she talked about her dreams for her future it was that her children would be able to continue to grow and prosper and her husband’s illness would get better. With the support of the community, and Jewish organizations, her children can continue to be served and her dreams for the future can come true.

Dana, Erika, Freya, Greg, Naomi, and Nicole visited the home of Fiona, a 5-year old who previously received services from Baby Help, but now attends a Jewish Day school and still receives services from Baby Help and Child Help (a similar JDC-run program for older children).

On Thursday afternoon several of us went to another Jewish school with Viviana, the JDC social worker who runs the Baby Help center (and many other amazing programs). At the school, we met the mother of a girl we’ll call Fiona, who was ready to be picked up from school for the day. We were energetically greeted by Fiona, her two sisters, and her mother. We drove them home in our bus and had an emotionally charged home visit with the entire family.

The family is very poor and for the last several years has been receiving services from the Baby Help center. The mother is training to be a piano teach, and the father sells flowers. They have four children, ages 12, 9, 7, and 5.

The love and joy coming from every member of this family was truly amazing. Each child was extremely warm to us and loved our visit. They are very, very happy children. The parents have done a truly amazing job raising the family even with their extremely difficult economic situation.

Unfortunately, two of the children had very serious illnesses when they were young. Their oldest child was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2, and happily was cured after two years of treatment. Their youngest child had some type serious issue at birth that caused partial paralysis of her right arm. The treatment for this, while available at public hospitals, had to be treated privately, since the delay in going through the public health system would have caused the issue to become irreparably worse. The cost of the treatment at the private facility was 1500 pesos per month — a rate higher than the family’s income. A private donor provided the family a scholarship to let them receive the treatment.

A couple of anecdotes were particularly moving. The mother told us, “My daughter had never been to a pajama party. Once she was invited for the first time, we had to buy hear a sleeping bag. This was very hard for us financially, but we did it.”

When we asked the father what he worries about most, his answer was simple: “Our monthly accounts. But, I’m confident that they will improve. In 5 years it will be much better.” He also has aspirations to some day move his family into a new house of their own.

Their apartment is incredibly small, cold, and out of date — but they have made it their home and it has character. They have a small living room with a TV, their refrigerator, a table, and one lamp. The walls have drawings from the children, a calendar, and a clock. The kitchen is tiny, and the bathroom is so small that there is no separate shower area – there is simply a drain in the floor near the sink and toilet and a shower spout comes off the wall. Their bedroom is also very cramped. The parents sleep on a double bed in the middle, and it is flanked by two bunk beds for the four kids. With about two aisles of 2 feet each on either side, there isn’t room for more than one of the six people who sleep here to move around at the same time. They have a porch on which the kids play with balls and a skateboard. The roof of their apartment is a thin sheet of hard plastic – there is no insulation. When we exited the apartment through a common hallway, the smell of heating gas was pervasive.

The love of this family is strong, as is its dignity. The parents were adamant that they would never allow any other child or parent at the school to see where they live, for fear of being ostracized. Viviana confirms that this would happen. The JDC’s work with families like this allows them to receive critical services while maintaining their dignity and living their lives without feeling ashamed. During our visit, the family included us and shared with us mate (a traditional tea that is shared amongst friends).

From August 22-29, 2010, 11 alumni of Cornell University will volunteer with the Jewish community of Argentina.