The High Cost of Poor Health

I regularly feel like those in Grenada are living on the edge. Not in a dangerous way (well except for the motorcyclists), but in that their lives are always delicately balanced between being able to make ends meet and financial difficultly. The concept of disposable income is non-existent.

One thing I think everyone in the world has in common is that good parents put their children first. This is no different in Grenada. Parents work two and three jobs to put their children into better schools to give them a better chance at ending the balancing game they are playing.

However one major health issue can tip that balance so that parents get in a hole that seems very difficult to climb out of. This is what has happened to my colleague Ms. Collins.

Ms. Collins is very typical of working Grenadians. She works full-time at NEWLO teaching the adolescent development program (ADP) and then works after school teaching Early Childhood Education. Like most Grenadians she will take a bus to and from work a trip of at least 40 minutes each way.


Ms. Collin in the purple skirt right in front of me!

Her son Leshon is also a typical three year old. He attends a Roman Catholic Pre-school in Woburn and is learning his ABCs.

What is not typical is that, about a month ago, he started to be not well-- and wasn't getting better. In fact it was on one of those days when his mom brought him to school and I got to meet the little guy. Shy around new people, he has a smile that lights up a room when he peeks out from behind his mom's skirt.

When Leshon's health started failing doctors were unsure why. Unlike Canada where we have specialized hospitals like Sick Children's in Toronto or CHEO in Ottawa there are no specialized facilities for children in Grenada. After a week in hospital in Grenada, it was determined he had to leave Grenada and fly to Trinidad for tests that could not be done here on children. Like any mother trying to save her child she took him as soon as the hospital could make arrangements.

Happily the story has a positive ending. Leshon has been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which is now being managed via some pretty serious drugs to get him back to being a healthy little boy. Once he is healthy his mom and dad will need to learn about how to keep the condition in remission but it will be something he manages for his whole life.

Here is the bad news. None of Leshon's health care treatment in Trinidad are covered. The costs would be about $6,000 Canadian. For those of us in Canada we would just put a few hundred dollars down each month and after a year or two we would have the bill paid off.

This is because in Canada we have minimum wages that allow most working people to live above the poverty line. In Grenada the minimum wage is a monthly figure and as an example a worker in a seniors home has their minimum wage set at $700 XCD or $325 Canadian dollars. That is working full-time for a month! A one bedroom apartment in St. George would be $550 XCD so you can see the problem with this wage structure. You will also realize just picking up a "part-time" job to pay the bills is impossible. (In case like me you find these things interesting here is a link to the minimum wages for Grenadians)

Ms. Collins already works two jobs to cover her regular expenses. Taking on a third job is impractical and would result in rarely seeing her son. Yet she needs to pay for her sons expenses, but right now that is a pretty difficult task.

So here is where you come in. For those of you who have enjoyed reading this blog here is your opportunity to do the same thing I am trying to do. Improve the lives of people in a developing country. The difference is you know the name of the person you are helping and you would know that you had made a contribution to seeing this boy reach his potential.

I have set up a fundraiser in GoFundMe. It doesn't matter what country you live in, if you have a credit card you can make a donation. It also doesn't matter how small that donation is. I am hoping to present the family with funds raised when my sister comes down at Easter.

Easter in Grenada is a very sacred time, a time of renewal and a time of play for children. Traditionally at Easter children fly kites all over the island, I am hoping that for Easter Leshon will be well enough to fly a kite with his friends and his mom's financial worries will be lifted off her like those kites are lifted up to the blue skies above.