This month’s Compassion blog post is about an 18 year old Compassion sponsored child named Emilda. She has the mental capacity of a three year-old but she is a fast runner. When she was 2 years old, Emilda had a convulsion from high fever and after she woke up from being unconscious for six days, she never was the same. She lives in a squatter community in the Philippines, just outside a cemetary where half naked drunken men roam the streets all hours of the day.

In 2009 Emilda competed in the Philippine Special Olympics. She won a gold medal, two silver medals and a bronze medal in track and field. She did well enough to qualify for the World Special Olympics in Athens, Greece this coming Summer. Emilda’s parents cannot pay her way to the Olympics and neither can the Philippine government. The cost for her to go is $19,857.

Months before the 2009 competition, it didn’t look like there was any way Emilda would be joining the national event. Her parents could not afford to buy her new running shoes or a uniform. Nor could they pay for the psychological and medical tests that are required before competing. They couldn’t even afford for her to travel to the local sports complex for practice. For Emilda and her mother to go to practice each morning and afternoon, they need close to $1.25 a day to pay for the travel expenses. Emilda’s father earns $6.25 a week making tombstones. Her mother tries to make additional money by washing clothes but she can’t do that everyday because she has to watch Emilda constantly. It is very dangerous for Emilda to be out by herself since she is mentally challenged. So Emilda and her mother walk four kilometers every day to the sports complex.