The Comedor

Yesterday was very intense. We went with Marita and Sarah to a comedor, which is basically a government-funded soup kitchen that provides daily food to some children who might not otherwise eat. Marita, Sarah and Russell have been involved for some time with this comedor, providing it with gas for the stove, clothes, plates and cups, and even food, since the subsidized food basically consists of only lentels, beans and other bare necessities.

Marita prepared gift bags all week for the 100-plus kids - a pair of socks and some candy for each. Yesterday (Saturday) the comedor was celebrating "Dia de los ninos," or kids day, so there was to be a special meal. Marita and Sarah planned to attend and deliver the gifts and invited us to join. We hesitated at first, pretty much just because we're selfish vacationers and didn't want to commit to what would surely be a heartbreaking day, but after watching Marita lovingly prepare the gifts, we decided we shouldn't pass up such a special invitation.

The comedor is about 45 minutes outside central Buenos Aires, but it may as well be on another planet. The entire area around the neighborhood serviced by the comedor is awful. There is trash, literally, everywhere. Piles of burning tires send black smoke into the air, and the streets teem with malnourished and mangy dogs and horses. The air pollution is terrible, and it stinks. The kids' neighborhood has no paved roads, and absolutely nothing beautiful - no flowers, no grass, nothing but rundown homes, filthy air, dogs and garbage. It's unclear how many of them even have plumbing. This is the setting for the comedor, which at last has a gas stove (until recently they cooked with wood), but still no sink or toilet.

The special meal for the kids consisted of a burger patty, some sliced hard boiled egg and mayo on a bun. Plus some soda pop. That was it. No fries or chips, much less fruit or vegetables. There were balloons and Marita's gift bags, and Argentine music blaring out of a jam box (then, inexplicably, REM's "Everybody Hurts" came on). It was so depressing, particularly knowing this was a "special" day. The kids were so beautiful, and so happy to get their socks and burger. The ladies feeding them worked so hard to bring a little lightness to the kids' lives, but the squalor they have to live/work in just made it all so difficult to understand.

Eric and I spent the rest of the day and all dinner talking about it. How can we help? Where can we begin? How can we get that one darling teenage girl to college? Just trying to comprehend the obstacles that face these children, how unlikely it is the any of them will climb up even one step on the socio-economic ladder, makes me want to cry. And when you think of how many millions of children around the world live like this - or worse - it's so daunting. We definitely plan to hold a Progressive Dinner Party to help, perhaps to buy a new building that has a real kitchen and bathroom. One step at a time, I suppose. When I figure out how to post videos you can see some of the kids in action. Over and out for now.