It began with a telephone call from Mexico

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I recall it was April last year. A telephone call came from Mexico City. It was Mr. Takaharu Morino, a medical attache of the Japanese Embassy. “A Mexican baby wishes to receive treatment from you. Can you tell me a little about the treatment?"

This was the only hope left to win a fight against a stubborn illness for Carlos’s family.

In the midst of the Mexican-American border running 3,326 km (2,067 miles), lies a city named Ciudad Juarez. Next to Ciudad Juarez and separated by the Rio Grande River, lies the American city El Paso, Texas. Fans of Western films are probably familiar to El Paso being the town where the famous “Billy the Kid” took an active part in gun fighting.

Ciudad Juarez is a desert town where many Maquiladora (bonded manufacturing companies) were invited to set up their plants and it has been rapidly growing since then. Some of Japanese companies are also operating there.

Carlos’s father, Geraldo (37 years old), was a self-employed tradesman of various materials to be used in those manufacturing plants from working gloves to uniforms for Maquiladora companies. He had crossed the Mexican-American border many times to purchase those materials in El Paso in the U.S. Carlos’s mother (36 years old) ran a dental office.

Geraldo built a well-to-do family environment, with a large house and horses on hand. Even his office lies on the building site of his home. What changed the course of a comfortable family life was the birth of their son, Carlos and his hospital life that followed.