This is a random flashback, but it is something that has been haunting me lately...so I figured if I blogged it, it might help:
Back in 2006 Steve and I went on a "Mission Trip" with people from his MBA program to Swaziland Africa. We were there for the dedication of a clinic that his school paid for, we had a little 2-day free healthcare clinic, and we also dropped off some stuff at orphanages. The rest of the 2 1/2 weeks we were there it was mostly vacationing in our 5-star hotel and doing tourist stuff.
On the last night that we were there the school paid for a VERY expensive dinner at a fancy hotel. I sat next to a native (but weathy) Swaziland girl who has about my age (on right)
I was doing a report on Swaziland for my Community Health Nursing class I was doing at the time so I siezed the opportunity to ask her about Swaziland. She told me lots of interesting facts about the king, cultural norms, ect.. Then I asked her what the average person's diet is like. She told me that for MOST women and children in swaziland they ate a ground up corn paste for both breakfast and lunch, and then they hoped that the male of the house brought home the money he made from the day so that they could eat something else for dinner...but most of the time male go spend it on food for themselves or alcohol. She told me this very casually like it was very normal. I almost puked up my expensive dinner I was eating.
To think that there were LOTS of people who were within a mile of where I was who were STARVING while I ate my fancy shmancy dinner made me feel like scum. And to make it worse, we left for home the next morning.
I'm not sure why, but this has been haunting me all week.
7 comments:
I feel bad that I've never even heard of Swaziland. Hearing things like this makes me so grateful for what we do have. Sometimes I complain or feel bad that we have repeat meals on occasion (usually due to laziness). We do have so much to be thankful for. Even some of the poorest among us here are rich, when we think of people living in other countries like Swaziland.
Yes, it is sad. I wish there were more and better ways to help them . The church's humanitarian aide $ is helping with clean water projects, and hey, if they had clean water close enough, they could grow their own veggie gardens...Hey maybe I could go on a "how to be a farmer mission!"
I think that listening to Lisa Ling may have brought this back to the surface too. (Yes?) I have a video, that I will post on my blog soon. You may have already seen it, but it makes me so grateful for all the little stuff in my life that I take for granted everyday. ie. food, shelter, bed. We really are so lucky that all of our basic needs are met and then some. We never have to worry about not having enough food, water etc. For the rest of the world, that thought haunts them on a daily basis.
I think it is interesting that you have been to Swaziland. My husband has a classmate from there. I had never heard of it before I met him. When he graduates he will be only the sixth person ever from his country to receive a graduate degree in physics. I am so grateful to live in such a privileged country.
I can see why that would haunt you...especially where most of us have to work so hard to AVOID food in order to be thin, not the opposite. Perhaps it's because you are on a mission to work up a size or two...
Thanks for sharing the memory. It makes me remember the time I spent living among it in my mission (very similar!) We have a way of forgetting that it exists currently while we are in our comfortable little lives.
That helps me be more appreciative of the blessings I have in my life. Thanks for the reminder!
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