There were dogs in the hospital. I counted three. There
seemed to be more but the same ones simply moved from one floor to another as
they pleased. No one there really noticed. But someone in our group did and
asked the social worker giving us a tour about them. She was embarrassed.
One belonged to a man who lived at the hospital, in the
waiting room just outside the maternity ward. He had nowhere else to go so they
let him stay there and keep his dog with him. Our guide was very proud of the
room. It had been built recently so that people would be comfortable while they
waited for their babies to be born. Looking in, I could not tell which person was the resident, and to me it did not seem like such a bad place to stay. You
would see so much joy from this glass walled room… one of the most beautiful
experiences of life happening over and over again.
The patients and visitors seemed to like the dogs as well. The dogs had a
calming presence, sleeping in corners and strolling casually, unaffected by suffering of such a place. They made it feel more like home and less like an
institution. The floor and walls were a bit dirty, but so too where the homes
and skins and clothes and of the people of the campo who came here for help and
for solace. Perhaps there is something to learn from this… that the little
things that make strange situations more normal can bring great comfort to
those in pain. Some broken rules do more
good than harm.
No comments:
Post a Comment