Thursday, June 4, 2009

Situation with Doña Argelia

During my time in Central America, I was always wondering how my life was going going to be related once I got back. The following are two emails I have sent about an issues that is happening with my Honduran host family. If you have any thoughts on it, let me know.

"Hey guys,
I just got off the phone with my host mom in Honduras. She was telling me about how she is having a stomach problem and needs to have an operation, but can't afford it. She asked me for $200 to pay for it. If it were just an interpersonal relationship, I would have no issues doing it because it is someone that I care about that I can actually help. but at the same time, I am getting the feeling that the Dad in the US who was sending remittances has been moving out of the picture and so I am really afraid of becoming a new source of remittances. I just would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much."


"Hey guys
Thank you to all of you who replied to this dilemma. I should give an update. On tuesday morning, my host mom called me again at 6:30 am, so I called her back a little while later and when I asked how she was doing, she started crying and telling me how much pain she was in. That is when I realized that I needed to help them out. So, tuesday afternoon I wired them $200 through Western Union. I haven't talked to them since then, but am trying to make sure that it is understood that this is just to aid her health and is a one time thing. I am still not sure whether or not it was the "right" thing to do, but at the same time, I don't know if there is one. There is just no way that I can say no to something that i can actually do to a woman who is in tears about her pain. I will definitely continue to be in contact with her and hopefully all will improve. Thank you all for your input and if you have more thoughts, please let me know. You are all very special in my life."

I also received some good thoughts from people. If you would like to know, let me know too.