The Miracle Baby
Carlos Arturo is a miracle baby. When his mother Maria was three months pregnant, her husband committed suicide leaving her a widow with four kids, and one on the way. During her fifth month of pregnancy, Maria had emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder and at six months the doctors put her on bed rest in the hospital for a month. So it was no surprise that when Carlos Arturo was born 5 weeks premature weighing 6lbs., the doctors called him a miracle baby.
Maria and her family live in Shalimar, one of Mika’s four neighborhoods. Through all of this, Maria was never alone. The week after the suicide, Crissy , Mika’s director, visited Maria and asked who had been supporting her. She answered, “The ladies who meet in the park have been here
everyday.” These “ladies who meet in the park” are the Shalimar Neighborhood Action Committee, Comunidad Unida. Immediately they circled around one of their neighbors in need. This support continued throughout the pregnancy as I and other neighborhood leaders would visit Maria, take her kids out to activities and pray with their family.
Carlos Arturo, a child whose path to life was paved with sorrow, sickness and strife, entered the world in celebration and the love of an entire community.
Effy Sanchez