Babies for Rent

Amigos:

Yes, the title of this post might be shocking for many ....... in fact it is shocking for everyone! but sadly, it is also true! When?, how?, what for?

You know, poverty has many faces and one of the worst is this: organized criminals look for poor people that work long hours for a miserable salary and don't have a safe place to leave their young children during those periods; these criminals convince the parents (it's usually the single mother) to "take care" of them during a whole day and pay them a little more than 3 dollars a day for each one and return the baby or youg child home around 10:00 or 10:30 each night; meanwhile, those poor souls are used by adults begging in the streets with them as if they were their own children. Recent studies show that a beggar when begging alone on a "good location" can make 10-15 US dollars a day (specially on Fridays and Saturdays, or better, on paydays!); but when they begg with a young baby in his or her arms, they can make 20 - 25 US dollars; worst of all if they rent, let's say 3-4 babies to do it for him or her, they can get 10- 15 US dollars for each of them!

One of may jobmates, a few years ago, told me that his wife, who used to pick him back home after work encountered almost daily a "poor" woman with a small baby, almost nude, in her arms on a street corner no so many blocks away from our office in Miraflores (a nice middle class area of Lima); she thought she could help this poor lady giving her the almost unused clothes of her own children, already grown, she had at home; the next day she gave the woman some little pants, socks, jackets and the like, so the baby could make it in the harsh winter going on.

A few days later, she happened to find again the "poor" lady and again, with the almost nude baby again in her arms; when my coworker's wife called her attention about why she kept the baby exposed to the cold wind and rain when she had gave her enough warm clothings to prevent the child to get a cold, fever, etc.; the answer she received was stunning: "if I put the baby the clothes you gave me, no one will give me a dime then!!!!"

I personally had the next "experince" some years ago: while waiting for the red light on a corner to change to green, offered a bread and a banana I happened to carry in my car, to a smoking young guy in his early 30's who came to my window; I was so surprised when the guy rejected my offering in a rather angry way and saying: "Keep it for you! I need money, what good is to me a dam bread and banana!"

This is the reality in many poor countries, Peru is no exception to the rule yet (although we are founding our way to a better future as a country these days!).

What can you do in these cases? The answer is no so simple; the creation of new jobs in our country, I hope, will lessen these terrible panorama, meanwhile I rather give the lonly child a piece of bread or a banna or any fruit I may have at hand.