Small gestures can have a big impact, and if you doubt that, meet Patricia, the happy owner of two new baby chicks.
I met Patricia at a clinic in Guatemala led by students and doctors from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (don’t worry, I am NOT practicing medicine). The KCU team provides two chicks each to various local patients who farm or know how to care for them. The chicks will grow to be egg-laying chickens, providing their new families with eggs and protein while also reducing their food costs (some families also sell the eggs).
Patricia beamed when she received her two chicks. The 70-year-old mother has one son and seven daughters—two kids still live in her house—and she’ll use the eggs for food. She came to the clinic for help with osteoarthritis and other issues, but the chicks were a bonus that will help her for years. “God sends the American doctors here,” Patricia said through a translator. (Another elderly woman placed her two chicks for safe keeping in the top half of her dress, which, yes, caused her chest to wiggle.)
The chicks are a low-cost, high-reward gift. Gautam J. Desai, DO, FACOFP, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine who has run these clinics for nearly 20 years, spent about $30 for the 30 baby chicks, paid for by KCU staff who contribute to Desai’s “chicken fund.” And the happiness generated by these chicks isn’t simply about their future role in creating omelets. The chicks are just so darn cute. Desai tells the story of a widower who visited one of the clinics last year, about 90 minutes outside Antigua. When the man received two chicks, he smiled, the generosity and the tiny chirping creatures providing a brief respite from grief. Small gestures.
Ken Budd is the author of The Voluntourist and the host of 650,000 Hours. Sign up here for the monthly 650,000 Hours newsletter!