Its not fair that when it pours with rain I am safe and dry in my house, when the power goes out I can light a candle and still have light and yet my next door neighbours are huddled in darkness in their leaky mud hut.
Its not fair that those lucky enough to have a job get paid around $4 per day for backbreaking work in the sun and yet that is below a quarter of the minimum HOURLY wage in Australia.
Its not fair that I can afford to go to the nearby town and buy anything I want in the supermarket and yet many of my neighbours and friends cannot afford to even supplement their ugali with a 6 cent avocado.
Its not fair that if I am sick I can get medicine, if it came to it I could get flown out of here and to first class medical services and yet for so many people here, getting sick means they just have to continue life as per normal and just hope to get better...a lad I had never seen before approached me after the Sunday service and limped 1km to my house with me explaining he wasn't feeling well and couldn't afford to go to the clinic, his English wasn't the best and at first all I could understand was he had a headache, but then he explained it started with his leg. I asked to see and when he pulled up his pant leg I was shocked and disgusted and so sorry all at once- A stick had pierced his shin (a week prior) leaving a huge deep hole which was now infected, swollen and causing him to limp, he had no money and no way to get help. I was his last resort.
Its not fair that my education was free, it was seen as a right. I didn't actually even want to go to uni and it was only because my brother convinced me to that I went (and I am so glad I did!). Yet here many students cannot afford fees for high school. They are forced to drop out so they can work and get money, sometimes not finishing until in their 20s or else just not getting an education and being caught in the vicious cycle of poverty.
Its not fair that last week when I went out to night time bible studies I put a jacket on because it was cold, I sat next to Tom and Edwin, two lads I know well and Edwin asked me if he could have my jacket. Tom indignantly replied 'no madam, he has a father. His father could buy him a jacket'. There was something about the phrase 'he has a father'... Toms dad died a few years ago, his mother is very poor and can't afford to support the family adequately. Tom has no-one who can buy him things.
Its not fair that when I am in town I see street kids sniffing glue to ward off hunger. Food is all around them sold on street corners everywhere but 7 cents for a banana is out of their reach.
It is not fair that for me growing up, death is something that happens to old people in the distant future and yet when I saw one of my students looking down the other day and asked what was wrong he explained 'I am sad because I just found out my brother is dead'. Not knowing how or why but just hearing that his brother is no more. His mother has already died and his brother had been supporting him through high school. I found him many times that week sitting by himself staring vacantly into the distance. When I asked him if there was anything I could do he replied in a whisper 'no madam,I think I will be okay'.
Why is it that the top 10% of the world own over 86% of its wealth and the bottom 50% have less than 1%?
Why was I born in a country where wealth and luxury is the norm? Where everyone has enough to eat and is supported by the government? and yet people my age here are struggling with death, sickness, with not having enough food?
I have come to realise that it is useless to resent this fact. Its easy to get bogged down in it all and just want to scream 'SI VISURI' at the top of my lungs. However that doesn't help anyone.
Maybe one of the reasons we see so much poverty is to teach us something. It is true that one person cannot change the world, but you can change the world for one person.
I find everything I see here rings so true with this famous quote"He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise" Luke 3:11.Helping out the people here actually does change their lives. One life at a time. To sponsor a kid through high school is $10 per week. Thats less than most of our phone bills. Less than a coffee each day. Around half an hours pay. Is it really that difficult for us to help out? I see it as really simple. They need money. We have money. Why don't we share a bit?
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