Can
you imagine being fourteen years old and pregnant for the third time? Erlen
lives in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has to go through this same
problem every day; Erlen needs many important things that most of us have to
day and some of them include proper clothing, better shelter, and medical
attention. Erlen needs many things like
shelter, medical care, food, etc. Besides those needs, she also needs clothing.
She needs proper clothing for the winter to be warm and also proper clothing
for the summer months to keep her cooled down. She needs clothing to go to
school in (once she has the baby, then she can go to school) just like we do
today. For example if you see the picture above, you will see the picture of
Erlen. As you can see many teenagers don’t dress like that today, that is
because Erlen doesn’t have as much clothing as we do today. If you would
please, send any clothing to help Erlen.
In Rio de Janeiro, many families are
homeless. Many only live in shacks… just like Erlen. Her mother lives with her
to help take care of the baby when it is born. Since only families have shacks
to live in, so they only have the ground to sleep on, like her mother. Since
Erlen is in her later stages of her pregnancy, she has been sleeping on the bed
while her mother is sleeping on the cold, hard ground. Please send any pillows,
blankets, anything to help poor Erlen and her mother stay as warm and cozy at
night, just like we do.
One of Erlen’s needs is medical
attention. Medical attention is important to Erlen because, as a pregnant
teenager she needs medical attention for when the baby comes. Did you know that
the infant mortality rate in 2003 (for Brazil) was 33 deaths out of 1,000 live
births? That is about 3 deaths for every 10 children. There are also many
concerns for Erlen. Because she is fourteen, such as poor health, and
malnutrition- and in extreme cases, death. All in all, if Erlen and her baby
are to survive through this, Erlen and her baby will need to seek medical
attention. So , again, please send any legal medical products to help Erlen and
her baby survive.
Consequently, Erlen’s needs are
small simple things, but can make a big difference to help change Erlen’s life
for the better.