Recovering From Anemia With Help From Meitiv Lunch Program

Talia, age 45, and Gustavo, 60, have found love and strength in each other throughout their marriage. Today, all their efforts are concentrated on providing for their youngest child, Elana, 7, who is anemic. Through the JDC-sponsored Meitiv School Lunch Program – which provides healthy, nutritious lunches daily to for more than 1,100 children at Jewish day schools – Elana is slowly recovering.

"I like having a meal with my friends, and at school I eat very tasty food," she says. Elana and her family also receive help from the Jewish day school: she attends on almost a full scholarship and receives free transportation.

Grateful for the assistance, Talia and Gustavo still remember a time when they were financially secure. The couple married 20 years ago just after Gustavo, then the father of two children and general manager of a Security company, became a widower. Talia was an employee at his company. Together they set up a wonderful life, working hard; raising Gustavo's children and having their own; enjoying long weekends fishing on the Argentine coast, a new car every few years, and frequent summer vacations in Uruguay.

But in Argentina's economic meltdown, the company where they both worked closed and Gustavo could not find a new job. Still, the couple's spirit was unbreakable. "We have never dropped our arms," says Gustavo, who is serene. "And we have always fought together," adds Talia, hugging her husband.

During the past few years, Talia and Gustavo have worked as real estate agents and taxi drivers. In their kitchen they have manufactured jewelry, pickles, chili, eggplants, popcorn, salty snacks and even raised quails to sell the eggs.

Since the beginning of 2004, they seem to have found some luck: they currently manufacture colorful, handmade candles. A $340 credit from the JDC-supported Ariel Job Center has helped Talia and Gustavo start their business. Though quite successful, they are presently unable to take the next step and expand their operation. Even working 16-hour days, the couple cannot accept more than one client because they lack the space to increase production, and the money to buy the required raw materials and molds.

In addition to the business loan, JDC provides the family assistance such as a monthly rent subsidy and supermarket debit card. "First we make a list of the menus for the week and then a list of the ingredients we will need," says Talia. "To have money for our business we had begun sacrificing our food quality," she explains. "Now we eat better." To make their money stretch, the couple bakes food that would be more expensive to buy, including pasta, pies and pastries.

Gustavo's other children are grown, have their own children, and struggle for their own survival in the devastated economy. Gustavo and Talia now live in the northwest outskirts of the city of Buenos Aires with their eldest daughter Soledad, 17, and Elana. The family feels very isolated, as they cannot afford transportation to see friends from their old neighborhood.

Nonetheless, Talia and Gustavo do not complain about their current living situation. They talk about how much the grandchildren want to visit them at their home, where the stove is off throughout this winter (U.S. summer) to save money. As they speak, Talia and Gustavo continue shaping paraffin in hopes that their business will provide some financial reprieve from their years-long struggle to survive.