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Costumes and Cookies: Argentina’s Baby Help Program Celebrates Purim
In Jewish communities the world over, Purim is a joyous celebration of the victory of life over death, and of the heroism of one young woman leading the fight to spare her people from the fate of a seemingly insurmountable edict. In many ways and in various countries, parallel struggles exist today — and equally courageous and important actions are being taken to challenge negative circumstances.
Nearly 25 centuries after the Jewish people in Persia were confronted with the possibility of their own destruction, Argentine Jewry is fighting for its wellbeing with the support of the global Jewish world. Despite the December 2001 economic collapse that plunged a significant number of Argentina's 220,000 Jews below the poverty line, families with young children impacted by the crisis are gathering to celebrate Purim at The Baby Help Center in Buenos Aires. "Parents will bring their children dressed like Queen Esther and King Achashverosh," explains Viviana, the Director of the Center. "The children are just so precious, they are so cute!" she beams. Some 100 people will gather for the festivities; the costumed tots will participate in a fashion show (complete with a "red carpet") and Hamentashen will be made on the premises by the parents and their children. "While the treats bake in the ovens, we will have a special puppet show telling the Purim story to entertain the little ones." Viviana suggests that this is important not only for the children, but to educate the families as a whole and to bring them back to the Jewish community following the financial hardships they have experienced. "Parents are now returning to our tradition through their children," explains Viviana. In addition to Baby Help celebrations of principal holidays such as Rosh Hashana, Pesach and Chanukah, each week the young ones sing songs and light Shabbat candles, and once a month the Center hosts a family Kabbalat Shabbat. "It is very moving to see the children singing the words to the blessings," she adds. Sponsored by JDC in collaboration with local partners, the Baby Help program lends support to at-risk pregnant women and their children (ages 0-3 years). The program provides them with basic needs — food, vitamins, medications, and hygienic supplies — as well as loans of equipment such as baby carriages and cribs. Through this initiative, infants are also given all mandatory vaccines not supplied by the Public Health System, as well as the Jewish ceremonies of Brit Mila (circumcision) or Simchat-Bat — which are otherwise unaffordable expenses. A "godmother" is assigned to each of the young mothers in order to help coach and mentor them in raising a healthy child. "A young girl of 2 ½ years old had a cleft palate, and we realized that she urgently needed surgery," Viviana shares. "But the mother did not have the strength to go to the hospital and fight for her daughter's rights." With crowded public services in Argentina, many of these young women who suffer from low self-esteem need an advocate — someone who will speak on their behalf and help them to assert their worth to obtain fair and necessary medical treatment for their families. "This godmother went with the little girl and was able to get her the surgery that she needed to develop healthfully." For all that it provides, the Baby Help Center is a haven for the young Jewish families in Argentina. "When the crisis first occurred, parents had no work and they needed to provide for their children because of that," explains Viviana. Some years after the apex of the crisis, the needs of this demographic have changed, but are still great. "Now they have jobs — but low-level ones — and need Baby Help because they cannot afford day care." Thanks to funding from a private donor, Baby Help expanded its scope to include a day care service on July 1st, 2005. "One month for us is a whole year — one year for us is an eternity," said one of the volunteers when the program was suggested. Daily, the Center provides care for 37 children from 9am-5pm; and this spikes to 45 during summer and winter holidays. "In that time we have been able to detect malnutrition and other needs among the children," Viviana says. In fact, a volunteer nutritionist supervises the food that is provided by Baby Help to ensure that the three meals that are provided by the Center meet the health needs of the kids. These children, many of whom live in difficult conditions and have suffered greatly as a result of the country's crisis, are the Jewish future in Argentina. "We are trying to reinsert them into normal life, with activities that develop their mind and imagination and bring them to the cognitive and motor level of their peers," says Viviana. The hope is that with adequate support and nurturing, they will not only enter school on equal footing with their classmates, but also as young people who strongly identify with their Jewish roots. "It is all about the little things…the daily things," Viviana adds. "This week it means telling them the Purim story and creating a connection for them and their parents to our People." Read more about Purim in the JDC World. From Kiev to Moscow, Odessa to Kishinev Purim is Celebrated March 2006 |
