Every drop counts

I have invented a word and I don't expect it to be recognised by language academies, far from it. This word is definitely an adjective that can only be used to describe human beings.

Herenow: (adj) refers to the attitude of a person who acts at the right time in the best possible way. He/she brings together certain values and puts them at the disposal of his/her actions:
Respect, justice, solidarity, honesty, tolerance, self-confidence, creativity, harmony, patience, self-control, gratitude, humility, among others. It excludes actions that are under contract or negotiation, such as the content of work for which someone is paid. It is personal, as natural as a feeling.

There are times in life that require quick and effective responses. Immediate, sensible action is needed, with positive repercussions (as far as possible).

You don't have to share common interests, or be friends or family to lend a hand or both to someone who needs it. Life is a rollercoaster ride and no matter how well prepared we are for any given circumstance, we will never have everything under control. There is the element of surprise and we must know how to self-monitor the situation in order to be able to act and come out of any problem unscathed (or at least as unharmed as possible).

This week I had an experience that made me consider this term (herenow), because above my situation I managed to apply this here and now in a single word that summed up not only my performance, but that of every person who was in the same place where I was.

I arrived at a children's hospital with my ten year old boy who was suffering from dehydration due to repeated vomiting and diarrhoea in 48 hours caused by excessive popcorn intake. The doctors acted immediately and gave him IV fluids to hydrate and feed him. To my surprise we had to stay there for two days, this was the first admission I had ever had with my son, he had never been hospitalised before.

It was a strong shock to hear the doctor's words saying that the child was in care and had to stay there, but when we got to the ward there were other children who were in worse condition than my child. The fever was so bad that they couldn't even sleep and the mothers were very worried because they didn't know what was causing the fever.

In Cuba the patients are not placed in separate rooms, but in large rooms with several beds on both sides and a central corridor between the two rows of beds.

In spite of the bad impression of entering, seeing these archaic beds (with these mosquito nets held up by rustic sticks that were tied to the beds with whatever they could find), a TV set with an antenna cable as a clothesline and on the wall halfway up, there was an impeccable cleanliness that the ladies in charge maintained from time to time.

The cries of the little ones in the early hours of the morning made my chest tighten and the least I could do was to try to help these mothers to get them something or arrange their seats so that they would be a little better off. One of them was waiting for an ambulance that took twelve hours to pick her up, as she had to be transferred to another hospital according to the doctors because of her child's symptoms. This mother had a headache and I gave her one of my pills to relieve her, as there was only intramuscular painkiller available and she had to wait for someone to arrive to authorise it and give it to her (who never arrived).

I felt I had the least of the problems in that place, as my child was recovering well and it was only a matter of time before his stomach was able to assimilate food. The other children distressed me when his body temperature rose. The mothers called the nurses to give them medicine and they were not all over the ward, many times I had to go out and look for them all over the hospital to attend to the children.

I accompanied more than one mother to the bathroom; I helped them by cooling the children to bring down their fevers and I also tried to talk to the children to make them feel a little better or sing them a nursery rhyme.

At times like these, human character is put to the test and there is no action more grateful than solidarity in difficult times, even when our own is not the best. For my part, I know that the little I could do in that place was not enough, but while I was there I tried to support physically and morally to appease to some extent the discomfort of staying there.

My son asked why I was taking pictures in this situation. Someday, he will surely have the opportunity to read these letters that go with all the love of a mother and all the feelings of a human being who thinks that one can always be a better person. I would like someday to be told that I am a herenow person and to be able to share this category with many, many people who are in this category.