Something

Who said: “I can't do everything but I can do something.”?* Whoever it was, it’s how we steer our star down here in Santo Domingo, Ecuador.

I met Rene, a little boy 6 years of age, a couple of months ago. He has spina bifida, a birth defect involving the spine, which has left him paralyzed below the waist. He can’t use his legs and can’t control his bowels or his bladder. In addition Rene has hydrocephalus, which occurs frequently with spina bifida. In the US, he would have had an operation for it by now, a “shunt”. Here in Ecuador, the family couldn’t afford it--about one year of dad's salary--so it hasn’t been done and his head is therefore bigger than you’d expect. He’s an engaging, bright-eyed little guy who loves attention.

Spina bifida is certainly a tough go for families, even in the US, and much more so down here. Mom, dad, Rene and his older brother Diego live in a little apartment behind dad’s automobile repair shop in a neighborhood near the clinic. He was getting around in the apartment by rolling around on the floor. While we were talking with his folks about his problem that first time at their place, his mom began to cry quietly and Rene looked confused, not understanding why the fuss.

Jamie Strawser, a friend and physical therapist, brought Rene his first wheelchair last month. She was here as part of a brigade made up mostly of faculty and students from UK. It was quite an event, and a little crowd formed in front of the clinic as Jamie adjusted the chair, passing on instructions and tools to dad, mom crying in the background—she wasn’t the only one—and Rene, he was smiling, happy and excited about his new wheels. It wasn’t everything he needed, but it was something.

*Frederic William Farrar (1831-1903), canon of Westminster and later dean of Canterbury. The complete quote is : “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.” This quote has also been attributed to the American Everett Hale (1822-1909), religious thinker and writer from Massachusetts, who also said (my favorite): “If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough.”