In the course of four hours, they made some people smile, though not as many as they'd hoped. They keep a mental tally, pluses and minuses.

There was the boy they gave a bottle of vitamins, though he may have a brain tumor. They can only pray it is a mineral deficiency. The girl who still has a disfiguring growth on her arm. The child who must have the X-ray of what could be a spinal tumor, but the X-ray will have to be taken by someone else, if she gets it at all.

But a little boy will go to school because he has a walker. With luck and diligence, he may one day walk or even run without it.

A woman, 75, will battle her blood pressure because she now has knowledge. A boy can hold his trumpet with his new artificial arm.

The list goes on. Minus. Plus.

It is a drop of water in a drought-stricken world.

But when you're parched, the slightest moisture brings unspeakable joy.

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E-MAIL: lois@desnews.com