Immigration Debate

As the political debate rages over immigration, we hope that our own family immigration drama will come to a close in the near future. Claudia and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary this October. That means we started her residency process 9 years ago in Chile before we ever moved to the US. For a few years she had a temporary residency card but “surrendered” it upon request of the INS (now Homeland Security) since she was to receive her permanent residency card “very soon”. That was five years ago. Since then, responses to our letters and phone calls have transitioned from “approval” to “we have no record of you” to a verbal “the files are lost, you will need to start over”. All I can say (without sinning) is: WOW! And to think that the current immigration debate on is how to track those that DO NOT want to be found. Please pray that our leaders would have wisdom and understanding as they consider changes to an immigration system that is painfully flawed. Thankfully we have copies of all our documents, and at this point we have decided to skip residency and apply for citizenship, having sent in the before the cost moves from a $400 non refundable fee to $800. Please join us in prayer as we await what we hope will be a positive response, and that the rest of the process would move ahead smoothly.

On the Cuba Connection of SiCKO

This one I just can’t pass up.  Let me start out by saying that I am no friend of the current U.S. medical and insurance system. It is better than many, but a far cry from anything I would call “just” or even “well constructed”. Now that we got that out of the way, let me address one aspect of Mr. Moor’s recently released documentary “SiCKO”, or rather some of the specific Cuba noise surrounding its release.  From the plethora of articles available, most of which focus on his traveling to Cuba without a license, I see that Moor has chosen Cuba as a comparison to hold up against the US health system.  To quote a Reuter’s article:

Balaguer [Cuba’s Health Minister] said Moore's portrayal was accurate and denied that Havana collaborated with him to tout the Cuban health system. "Our country ... is always open to those cases that, from a humane point of view, may need the services of our public health care," he said.

Or another IPS Article by Patricia Grogg:

Most Cubans receive free care and housing and enjoy heavy subsidies on basic food, transportation and utilities.

The problem is that Moore (and most of the journalists who are writing on the topic) encountered only one part of Cuba’s dualistic health care system, and the media in general hasn’t bothered (wanted?) to check their facts. Yes, a Cuban is able to walk into a clinic and be seen by a doctor, or more recently nurse practitioners since so many doctors have been shipped overseas to key countries like Venezuela, something the Reuters article touched on but didn’t get the whole picture:

Besides providing universal coverage for its own citizens, Cuba has sent doctors to more than 70 other countries. Most recently, it has sent as many as 15,000 doctors to work in the slums of Venezuela, its main political ally, in exchange for oil supplies. 

Essentially, a Cuban can see a doctor, but if actual care is required, such as x-rays (as in the case of my wife on one of our ministry trips), or simple blood tests (as in the case of a pastor who recently came to the US for testing he was denied in Cuba), or heaven forbid the actual need for medication, these clinics are less than helpful. So, in a sense there is universal free medical available to all who want what amounts to a cursory consultation. In the case of my wife’s visit we did get to see an actual doctor, but were told that we needed to go out and purchase x-ray film on the black market before he could do the necessary x-rays.

Then there’s the second part of the Cuban Health Care schizophrenia, the clean, professional and presentable sister to the messy one I just mentioned that’s kept hidden from foreign eyes like Moor’s. This is where you can find the touted, top ranked doctors and high end machinery –all available to those who can pay the price for treatment, or provide promotion of Cuba’s medical system to the world. As for the Cubans, their $15/month average salary relegates them to the “free clinics”, where they unfortunately get what they pay for.

I do echo Moore’s question as reported by the Miahael Giltz article:

"Why would we let 50 million Americans not have health insurance, 9 million of them children?" Moore asked. "We're the United States! We can do better!"

However, if Mr. Moore had done a little more homework on the reality of Cuba’s healthcare system, or simply walked into any of the public clinics throughout the island, I think he would have looked elsewhere for his examples, not to mention avoiding the problems he is now facing for traveling to Cuba without a license. What a waste of a trip.

Date Nights and Answers to Prayer

I’ve never been an actor and usually try not to sing too loud out of respect for those around me, but two nights ago I found myself onstage for the curtain call of “Forbidden Broadway” playing at the Carnival Center for the Performing arts. What a surreal experience! Well that’s the latest in a series of blessings I want to share with you in order to give testimony to God’s faithfulness. Just before Christmas ’06 I had committed to having more “date nights” with Claudia so that we could step away from the normal routine and do the marital maintenance on the wonderful relationship that the Lord had blessed us with. The only problem was that we had precious little “discretionary income” to put towards these nights. I remember praying and asking the Lord for the means to do a little more than a cup of coffee every now and then. I had no idea as to what the Lord had in store!

Only a week or so after that prayer I was leaving for work at 7:00 AM, about ½ hr later than usual, when the home phone rang. The woman calling asked: “This is going to sound strange, but are you Kevin Ayebeg?”
“Yes, who is this?” I asked.
“That’s not important.” she said hurriedly, “I found your name in the directory. You need to call WIOD (local AM News station) right now! They just announced your name as one of the Christmas prize winners and you’ve got 5 minutes left to call in!” She quickly gave me the station’s number and hung up. I never even got her name.

Sure enough, I called the station, gave them my name and they told me that I had won a $100 American Express gift card (and a Rush Limbaugh bobble-head doll). Claudia and I got two really nice date nights out of the card and blessed our mailman with Rush.

It was about two months later that I called in on the same station’s early AM commute trivia show and got through on the second try, only to win yet another $100. certificate for a local Seafood Grill, resulting in another wonderful pair of date nights for Claudia and I.

Since finances have been tight, I’ve been doing various home repair projects for friends and neighbors to make ends meet. I often find myself in the garage working on pieces of furniture or simply getting the tools together I will need for the next project while listening to the local “oldies” station Majic 102.7 which also has various games and contests. I occasionally (maybe two times a month at most) will attempt to call in but only take time to dial up to two times in a row figuring that any more than two tries is a waste of time. Well, again, I got through and won a dinner for two at the local NYPD Pizza Parlor and was entered into a drawing for a new Lexus. I was relieved to not win the Lexus since we couldn’t have afforded the taxes, licensing, registration or insurance, not to mention how to reconcile a missionary driving a brand new Lexus, but we sure enjoyed a nice meal out once again!

It didn’t stop there though. From a local hardware store that I shop at we won a drawing for two tickets (usually $50. each) to the Weston Food and Wine festival, yet another great date afternoon. The most recent answer to my date night prayer came in an unsolicited phone call from another local radio station informing me that I won their monthly birthday drawing which included four tickets to the Broadway show I started with. Since my parents were in town we got to treat them to a night out (and I even looked generous doing it! :-)

God bless!

Lessons We’ve Learned from our Kids

7-8-07 Lessons #5

1. Highlighters are non-toxic but extremely messy when bit just right.
2. The liquid inside of glow sticks is also non toxic, but makes a child’s mouth look really, really creepy.
3. All songs should be sung at the top of your lungs even if you don’t know the words.
4. The "happy birthday song" is applicable on all occasions, especially Sunday morning worship if you apply lesson #3.
5. The alphabet song can be substituted for the Birthday song in a pinch. Again, apply lesson #3.
6. Libraries have a sense of humor. Sign #1: “Please maintain a quiet atmosphere for our patrons” Sign #2: “Children’s section this way”.
7. Squirt guns will never go out of style.
8. Question: “Jeremy, how do you talk to God?” Answer: “With my mouth.”
9. Under the right circumstances, a 35 lb child is capable of producing 4.86 gallons of barf in a very short period of time.
10. Their names aren’t “Superman” or “Batman” daddy, its… “SEWER-man” and “BAD-man”!
11. When the car ashtray is vacant of coins, don’t be surprised that the CD player no longer works, the AC vents rattle, you hear at least three clanks the next time each window is rolled down and the seat belt will not lock into its designated, “quarter sized” slot.

For all of our lessons plus pix please visit our "Lessons from Kids" page.

Welcome to the Abegg's Blog

Over the past two years I've been thinking about getting a site going that can accompany and enhance our "Electronic Love Letters" (our news letters on ministry to Cuba). Well, this is our first attempt at actually getting it rolling, so thank you for your patience at my lack of cyber experience. Please check out the photo albums, news links and web links and let us know what you think. Eventually we will get some discussions rolling and we would love your input. God bless.