"Inside the sleepy-looking little bamboo houses I visited, I found people struggling with the cruel realities of life: a child crippled by
polio who had never received any
physical therapy; a woman suffering
from severe burns from a pan of
spilled boiling water; a family of nine
living and sleeping in one room and
eating on the floor; children defecating in their own yards; half a
dozen babies on the brink of death,
pigs and flies in the kitchen, sharing
the family's food; a wife in tears
because her husband was sleeping
with the girl next door; a deaf-mute
girl who had never had a physical
examination; children with skin
diseases and eye infections; and on
and on—all this just a few steps from
our door.
I would return home, sick with my
inability to be of real help. Deeply
depressed, tell Earle of my
experiences, and the well-known
wave of futility would sweep over us
as we asked ourselves what we could
really do.
We decided that practical education, together with a sincere personal interest, was the way we could best help." (The Barrios Of Manta. Rhoda & Earle Brooks)
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