Compassion

 

Recently Nora sent me an email explaining how she got a little behind in her work.  Here it is with some of my parenthetical clarifications:

Dear Les,

Every evening for the last 15 years I carry or send food to a lady who is now 90.  She and her sister were very good friends of Maria's (Nora's adoptive mother who was a nationally known Cuban singer-songwriter).  They even played four-handed piano together.  The sister died, and I was left in charge of the lady who was then alone.  She is of poor eyesight, but strong minded.  She never forgot the building where she lives was built by her father in 1944.  She had a little wooly dog who died at 16, given to her by Aniplant's adoption program.  She and her sister were members of Aniplant since its founding (in 1987).  On the little dog's dying a few months ago and having such solitude and misery, she began to care for dogs by the day and by the hour—that is to day care them or to foster them.

But the reality is that who regularly attend those dogs are María Julia and myself.  (María Julia is Nora's friend who minds her household and pets when Nora travels or is tied up working.) Those dogs are well attended, and have no problems.  When Pablo was rescued from the streets, we had no place to take him as males can't go to Aniplant's headquarters.  Aló Presidente is the only male (and he doesn't take kindly to other "machos").  Foster care costs at least $3.00 a day, and those who usually do it ask for even more, so we decided to take Pablo to the old lady's place while he convalesces.  But as Pablo needs medical care, day by day, I take him for his treatment even sometimes twice a day.

Tuesday, on coming back from feeding the lady and playing with Pablo, who is very nice, I slipped on exiting the bus. It was dark and raining, and I broke my ankle. Now María Julia is attending him, as I can't until next Tuesday when I get a cast.  Then I think I can help.  I'll tell you.

Nora

This little vignette tells me a few things:

1.     Getting from one place to another in Cuba can be hazardous.

2.     In Cuba your best social safety net is your friends.

3.     It's tough to get old in any land, and it's certainly no picnic in Cuba.

4.     A dog in need is lucky if he falls under the protection of a compassionate person.

In Pablo's case, he has attracted the help of three compassionate women—Amanda the American who found him and will adopt him, Nora who cannot ignore a needy animal, and the 90 year old lady who is fostering him.

That word, compassion, needs some comment.  This story shows that true compassion is indivsible.  You can't be compassionate for one and not another.  It would be impossible to have real compassion for animals without some of it for people too.  Nora's email clearly demonstrates the scope of her compassion.  It isn't enough she has 12 dogs in her home, but she has 10 more at Aniplant's headquarters, runs an animal protection organization, and has time for a daily caregiver's visit with the old lady and Pablo.  María Julia has 8 dogs in her home as well.

True love can happen anywhere.

 

Les