Captain and crew

Captain and crew, originally uploaded by mattcotham.

Captain (the kid on the right) was in the hospital for about 3 months
last year; he came back today after not feeling very well for a while at
home. The man on the left is his brother, who's two years older than
him. Captain's 18 years old. He hasn't gained any weight since he was
7 years old -- he was 16 kg when he was admitted then, and he's still 16
kg today. We actually spent a lot of time with his family when he was
here in 2007, organized a meeting with everyone, sat them down, and so
forth, but they have basically said that he's on his own, despite his
chronic diseases. It's very sad to me.
For some strange reason on the bus today we got a mysterious package
from someone I don't know -- full of Twix bars. So I decided that they
must be (at least in part) Captain's Twix bars. Not that Twix is
exactly the nutritional answer for a kid that's malnourished, but part
of Captain's problem is the loss of hope and love in his life, too.
Maybe a gift of chocolate can help him remember that love.