55
GIVE CHILDREN A HOMELAND
the operation, Edik decided to spend a week with his parents.
Zinaida, Edik’s mother, suggested, “Son, maybe we should go see our
local healer. Maybe she can help.”
“Oh, Mama, what century are we living in? There, in the West, medicine
has long been at the highest level. The diseased tissue needs to be cut out
and replaced. Don’t worry. I’m not going to any of those old medicine wo-
men. That’s the century before last.”
“I’m not suggesting you go to any old women. Remember the little girl
from the children’s home at the edge of our village who to everyone’s
amazement herself worked the hectare of land given her? Let’s go see her.”
“You mean Shorty? I vaguely remember.”
“She’s no shorty now, son, but a highly respected person. Managers are
prepared to pay her double for what she raises with her own hands, and
people come from faraway places for her herb harvests, even though she
puts out no advertising whatsoever.”
“How does Shorty know so much?”
“Since first grade she was brought to her plot every summer, and every
winter she read different books every day on agriculture and folk medicine.
The child’s mind is keen and absorbs everything well. She has gleaned a
great deal from books, of course. Only people say she has understood more
by herself. They also say she understands plants. She talks to them.”
“How about that Shorty!How much does she charge for treatment?”
“Sometimes she charges, but sometimes she treats people for free. Last
fall I met her near the pond. She looked into my eyes and said, ‘Auntie Zina,
there’s something wrong with the whites of your eyes. Take this herb, make
an infusion, and drink it. It will pass.’ And it did. The whites of my eyes
really did have something wrong because my liver did. Now it doesn’t.
Come, son, let’s go. Maybe she will help your liver, too.”
“Only it’s not just my liver, Mama. I already have a diagnosis. They’re go-
ing to remove a kidney. None of your infusions are going to help here. Actu-
ally, let’s go. It will be interesting to see Shorty’s homestead. People say it’s
like heaven.”
