Saved by a "Jag Sameaj"

Until September last year, Veronica, age 28, and her family survived on what she and her husband could get in the street. Their daily routine consisted of scouring all the shops in downtown Buenos Aires begging for money, food or whatever people could give them. But nothing of what she was able to gather at the end of the day was enough to cover the needs of her family. The coins, clothes or food she got were not enough for her three small children, ages 7, 5 and 2.

Unemployment, starvation and the desperate attempts to get food for her children are in open contrast with a past in which she lived quite well, with a house of her own and a daily routine closer to that of a middle-class lady. But the economic crisis which broke out in December 2001 ended up throwing her deeper and deeper into a different reality.

In September 2002 however, her life changed. Her routine was interrupted forever when the owner of one of the many shops she went into said goodbye to her with a "jag sameaj", as Rosh Hashanah was getting near. When she answered the greeting, the shop owner realized the beggar he had in front of him was Jewish like himself. Without hesitation he referred her to a JDC-sponsored Social Assistance Center, where she is now receiving food vouchers each month. Veronica has rekindled her links to the Jewish community, a history she had lost a long time ago.

The family of five is now living in a minimum space. They cannot afford to have a refrigerator and the family table is no more than a small piece of wood with room for only two plates. During January and February 2003 (the summer season in Argentina), her children were at least able to soothe their situation thanks to the scholarship they received from the JDC, allowing them to participate in summer day camps. Every day, for two months, her three children were able to enjoy the open air, make new friends, learn about their traditions and, above all, eat a proper meal every day through the Meitiv lunch program.

Veronica is continuously thankful for all the help she receives from the JDC, but she and her husband are still unemployed and do not foresee a possibility to change their desperate situation within the near future.