A U.S. Colonia and a Baby

I was with a mission group on the American side of the border and was speaking with an 18-year old mother about her children. She has three; the youngest is one-month old. Perhaps she answered a little too quickly when I inquired about the health of the children. Perhaps there was some body language that made me suspicious that she was not being truthful. Often, when we are helping people, they are reluctant to ask for more help. In any case, I did not believe her when she said that the children were all doing well.

I repeated the question and she repeated her answer, “The children are all in good health.”

I tried another approach and asked, “When was the last time the baby saw a doctor? Let’s see – he is one month old . . .” That did the trick. She broke eye contact, glanced at the ground and said, “Well, he has diarrhea and is not eating very well. But I took him to the doctor and the doctor sent me home. He would not see the baby because I have no insurance.”

Further conversation revealed that there has been three days diarrhea and very little eating. When I examined the baby, he looked healthy and had a good loud cry. Babies cry. However, after several minutes of watching this baby cry I realized that the baby formed no tears. These were classic causes and signs of dehydration.
The hospital admitted the little guy for severe dehydration caused by a viral infection The doctor began intravenous drips and treatment for the virus. All is fine. The baby and mom (and dad) all spent the night at the hospital and the infant was released 24-hours later.

Long-ago I stopped questioning why we are at a certain place at a certain time. I have not been in a U.S. colonia since 2001, and yet I explored this one with a mission group. I continue to be amazed that God uses somebody as unworthy as me. I wonder what could be accomplished if He used a good person, with language skills, building skills or even medical skills. But I will not spend much time wondering about His choices. I will reflect on the needs in the colonias, not only in Mexico, but also in the U.S.

Tomorrow – back to Acuña.