Health and Education

Today I took Panda Girl to the pediatrician.  Today's appointment was to recheck her ears.  Two weeks ago I had hauled a feverish fussy toddler into the office at the end of the day.  As I had thought, she had an ear infection.  Her ear tubes had dislodged a couple of weeks prior to that day, so I had been expecting an infection to take hold.  Today, when Dr. Alex peered into her ears, he was displeased.  After one round of oral antibiotics, she still had an infection.  He gave me two choices: another round of oral antibiotics (which he warned was very unlikely to work) or a series of two shots (administered today and tomorrow).  I dislike shots as much as the next mommy, but I really want this infection gone, so I opted for option two.  He also suggested I put in a call to my trusty ENT to get her in for another set of ear tubes.  She is clearly a child who requires them. 

Earlier this week I wrote our family's first letter to our new Compassion child.  She lives in Honduras.  We chose her because she has the same birthday as Sweet Pea. In her picture she looks small and slightly neglected, which I am certain was the aim of using that particular photo.  She lives with her mom and grandfather.  Neither of the adults she lives with are regularly employed.  We showed Sweet Pea her picture and asked her if there was anything she wanted to know about this little girl.  After being disappointed that this child could not come to her birthday party, she asked the questions I had assumed were coming: What is her favorite food?  What is her favorite animal?  What is her favorite color? 

Today it occurred to me how lucky we are to be able to give Panda Girl the care she needs for her troublesome ears.  There are so many places where she would probably end up with hearing loss due to repeated infections.  She would struggle to speak.  She would have difficulty in school resulting from her lack of language skills and hearing loss.  Panda Girl is my very bright child.  Sweet Pea is smart: asks why incessantly, has a killer memory and is highly observant.  Panda Girl, however, is in a league of her own.  Her father is a Mensa member, and I have no doubt she will end up like him some day.  It breaks my heart to think about how many gifted children there are in the world who can't reach thier incredible potential due to a minor issue that can easily be cured with modern medicine.  Imagine the problems those children could solve for all of us regular joes if given the chance to fulfill their promise. 

While I don't think the little Honduran girl we are sponsoring is a genius, I hope she can grow up to become educated.  I hope she can educate her future family.  We partly chose a girl to sponsor because educated girls beget educated families.  Girls pass on their knowledge to their children.  Hopefully we can help end a familial cycle of poverty.