Esperanza

Esperanza* was pregnant and living under a bridge. At just 17 years old, she already had a 2-year-old son and was expecting her second.

For street kids like Esperanza, healthcare of any kind is pretty far out of reach. The government hospital, which is supposed to provide care for the poor, discriminates against street kids, giving them insufficient care or flat-out refusing to treat them.

That had happened to Maria, a 14-year-old suffering from an infection so severe that she could barely walk, who was turned away at the door of the hospital, even though she had money to pay for treatment. Fortunately, in her case, missionaries intervened, possibly saving her life.

Diego wasn’t so lucky. He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had suffered severe wounds in a knife fight. While the government hospital treated him, they released him within 8 hours of major intestinal surgery. He died from infection less than 24 hours later.

Brianna Brown, a missionary affiliated with Hospitals of Hope, wanted to make sure that Esperanza and her baby didn’t fall through the cracks. She and another missionary arranged for housing for Esperanza, and she took her out of the city to Hospitals of Hope for pre-natal care.

The kindness of the hospital staff astonished Esperanza, as they treated her with dignity and respect and played with her son. She saw her baby boy growing healthily on the ultrasound, and, when she returned to the city, she couldn’t stop telling the other street kids about how clean the hospital was and how kindly the staff had treated her.

Esperanza’s baby, Luis, has since been born, strong and healthy, thanks in part to the care shown by the Hospitals of Hope staff. More than just medical care, however, Esperanza received the love of Jesus, expressed through the hospital staff and volunteers.


*Names have been changed.