Dozing off...

Billy is the perfect model. While our other three dogs find it very hard to stand still for two seconds, Billy is extremely patient with me. When he sees me with my camera, he already knows what's coming. He sits down, looks at me and waits for my instructions. Aristóteles, on the other hand, hates the camera. He gets very nervous when I point it at him, barks at it, attacks it. Luna and Penélope simply have better things to do than losing their time posing for the camera.
But even Billy's patience has its limits. I had trouble finding all the correct settings in the dim light of our living room. His big eyes began to close, giving me this wonderfully cute shot. A second later he was fast asleep.

Tonight I will meet my good friend Dr. Júlio. He works at the county hospital where he treats patients with HIV. The outgoing mayor lay off 400 professionals who work in the public health sector, thus closing of 35 of 42 public health posts, small clinics located in the mainly poor neighborhoods of our town. Each clinic has a general practitioner who employs nurses and social workers with small salaries, but who very often represent the only income of their families. Many of these are now left with nothing and are desperate.
Some say this is the outgoing mayor's retaliation for not having been reelected. Others say he needs these people's salaries to pay the bills of his failed reelection campaign. This is the aspect of living in Brazil I have the most trouble with: The complete lack of moral and ethical integrity of our politicians.
Dr. Júlio and I will discuss ways we can help these jobless people. One of Dr. Júlio's friends told him that she will spend Christmas in church praying because there won't be anything else she can do. Our ressources are of course very limited, but we are determined to help where we can.