Edith went Shopping

We’ve discussed in previous posts the poor circumstances Edith and her family live in. Given her situation we wondered what Edith would do if told she could go on a shopping spree with what to her would seem like an unlimited budget. We had the opportunity this morning to find out.

Edith Fuentes works at a store in Chiclayo from 9:00am to 9:00pm seven days per week. She earns $203 per month. She leaves for work at 7:30am and returns home at 11:00pm so really has no personal time. She asked for and was given permission by her employer to take the morning off so we could take her shopping. We met her at the Makro store in Chiclayo at 8:00am. When we began Edith was at first hesitant, looking at us for approval before placing each item on the cart, but when she realized we were serious about no limitation she shopped quickly and methodically. We didn’t stop her…she stopped herself. After placing a fresh chicken on the cart she firmly announced, “No mas.” These are the items Edith purchased:

Rice...........................108 lbs..........$35

Sugar.........................110 lbs..........$29

Beans........................22 lbs.............$16

Noodles.....................22 lbs.............$11

Peas..........................22 lbs.............$12

Oats...........................11 lbs.............$7

Milk............................24 cans..........$19

Peaches....................3 cans............$18

Tuna...........................6 cans............$11

Chicken.....................1 whole..........$6
Cooking oil................5 liters............$12

Laundry soap............10 lbs.............$12

Toilet paper...............24 rolls...........$4

Candy........................1 bag.............$1

Juice glasses............6 pack............$1      

                                   Total.............$194

Depending on where a person lives and what their circumstances are this list may not look very exciting. To a family like Edith’s, where money is scarce and regular meals are not always a sure thing these items represent a bonanza. For Edith they also represent nearly a month’s wage.

Before delivering the food to Edith’s house we stopped at the school in Casa De Madera to drop off the new dry-erase board we’d promised, along with the hardware to mount it. The teachers assured us that one of the village men would have it in place for classes on Monday.

As the truck neared Edith’s house we saw Leslie and Janina excitedly jumping up and down and waving signs to greet us. It’s a nice gesture that we appreciate.

With Edith’s approval we’re going to hold on to the remainder of the money donated for the Fuentes family while we explore the possibility over the next few days of using it for seed money to raise the needed cash to get Julio out of prison. We’re going to look at raffles, bake sales and any other fund raising activity we can think of. If this turns out not to be practicable we’ll give Edith the remainder of the donated money. That’s not normally our practice but we trust her to use the money in the best interests of her family.

To those who donated…thank you. You’ve fed a family of seven for better than a month, and for awhile at least have given peace of mind to Edith and her husband. You can feel justifiably proud of what you’ve accomplished.