Children that Inspire at St. Andrew’s Clinic
Some members of our Border Beat class took a trip to Nogales this past week to do border reporting. We went to St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic, where about 200 children are seen by doctors and volunteers each first Thursday of the month. These children come from Sonora, Mexico, and they seem to steal the hearts of all the volunteers and doctors there.
I didn’t get to speak with or really get personal with any of the children because I mainly interviewed people that were in charge of running the clinic behind the scenes. I did, however, hear several heart-warming stories of how children have touched the lives of the volunteers.
One woman volunteering in the pediatric area was telling me how she brings in new strollers from the store to give to parents that need them. About a month ago, a mom kept walking by the table trying to get a stroller for her son that she was carrying, unable to walk. Her son was just too big to fit in it, so the volunteer felt like she had to turn her away to save the stroller for someone that could use it properly. She kept telling the mother that it was unsafe to put a child in a stroller that didn’t fit the child well. The mother kept walking by, looking more tired and worn out each time. Eventually, the mother just broke down and started crying. The boy was too big for her to hold all day, and she just wanted to put him down. At that moment, the stroller was hers, and the volunteer wanted nothing more than to help this woman.
Another volunteer told me about a child not more than a few years old who was born without feet and half her legs. She was learning how to walk on her new prosthetic legs. The doctors had put pegs on her new legs so she could learn to balance, but she still couldn’t walk and they couldn’t figure out why. They suggested she get a walker. As soon as they had one custom made for her petite size, she was running off.
Volunteers kept saying that it’s miracles like this that make them always come back and help. Most of the volunteers had been there for several years, and they all said of some degree, “We do it for the children.”
Talking to them was so inspiring. I wish I’d had more time to get to know some of the children myself, but I look forward to getting to know them through the eyes of my fellow Border Beat reporters’ eyes and ears. I know we’ll have some pretty influential stories about this group of people to put up soon.
Reaching Hands Across Boundaries 