(Day 12) Dark Holidays

MERCEDES — At night, Mary Conde’s four children kneel next to a bed in their room and pray. The children — Damacio, 11, Darrel, 9, Dion, 8, and Katrina, 8 — pray for the water and electricity in their house to be turned back on and for a present or two on Christmas day, Conde said.

"We have to pray, we have to pray," the children say.

Boys being boys, that’s the only time Mary’s three sons will even let their sister Katrina in their room.

The family hasn’t had electricity or water since August.

She needs $323 to turn the electricity back on. Conde said she received a disconnection notice from Magic Valley Electricity Co-Op and did not have the cash to pay it.

"They wanted cash. I already went in and I’ve been begging them to turn the electricity on," she said. "I just gave up already."

Bernie Saenz, a spokesman for Magic Valley, said he had no specific information on the Conde family’s case.

"Our stance is always that if they come in and ask, we try to do anything we can," Saenz said.

Conde, who is raising the children on her own now, also owes $100 to North Alamo Water Supply Corp.

Unemployed, she has no way to pay the bills, but once had a job as an assistant in a nursing home.

She wants a job again badly, but can’t drive very far in her car, which has a large crack spanning half the length of the windshield. The only income the family has is $25 that Mary’s brother gives her each week.

With that money, she buys eggs, tuna and tortillas to feed her four children. Occasionally, she can also buy meat, which she cooks outside on a barbecue. She knows there aren’t enough nutrients in the food.

"It’s a poor diet, but they have to be fed," Conde said.

Once or twice a day, she drives to a local convenience store to fill a 15-gallon container with water. She and the kids take turns bathing in the water.

There are pictures of school classes, the boys posing in their baseball uniforms, Katrina with a wide smile and curls. The children cover every wall of the otherwise bare living room.

A washing machine in the corner of the kitchen sits unused, as does a refrigerator. Mary would like to give her children milk, but she can’t keep it cold enough.

In Katrina’s room, a Rugrats sheet covers a thin futon big enough for one person. Tidy piles of boxes take up most of the room. Above the bed hangs a handkerchief with the words "Jesus loves Katrina."

Behind the futon, the family’s Christmas decorations sit unused, with reindeer noses poking out behind large boxes. The four children ask their mother to put the decorations out in the yard, even though there’s no electricity to light up the reindeer.

"But still put it up, so people think we have lights," the children tell their mother.

The children also flip light switches every day in hopes the lights will come on.

In the room that Damacio, Darrel and Dion share, there is nothing but three mattresses stacked on top of each other and a thin shelf. The room is kept bare because it leaks whenever it rains. When that happens, the boys all pile into Mary’s room across the hall.

In the hall, blankets cover windows in order to keep the house a little warmer.

Nights are the worst for the family. Without any electricity, the children can’t read or color, two of their favorite activities.

When Katrina has homework, she piles a plate with tealight candles and tries to write by the weak candlelight.

"I hate seeing her use a candle," Conde said. "She has a candle and she’s doing her homework right over the candle."

Christmas presents aren’t even a question in the household. Conde already has told her children not to expect anything.

The boys still ask for video games and the children plan to put cookies out for Santa Claus.

As hard as it is to see her children without water or food, Conde has no choice but to stand by her children.

"For any mom that’s left alone with children, try not to give up," she said.

The Conde family needs blankets, and help paying utility bills. The four children are also in need of clothes. Damacio wears a size 12 regular pants, 11/12 shirt and size 5 shoes. Katrina wears a size 6 regular pants, 7/8 shirt and size 1 shoes. Darrel wears size 7 regular pants, 7/8 shirts and 1 1/2 shoes. Dion wears size 7 pants, 7/8 shirt and size 1 shoes.