I have been avoiding blogging for too long, though I have much to blog about. In particular, I enrolled in another service learning class this quarter because I love what I experience in these classes. English 205 online, with Lela Hilton and the theme is appropriately, The Power of One. Our focus and discussion are centered in human rights, and its been pretty powerful for me. So I have avoided blogging out of fear it would be too emotional and turb everyone off. I will however, summarize a presentation I went to. I apologize for the length, but like I said, there’s much to discuss!
Earlier this week, I went to a lecture done by Medical Teams International. This group, much like the Red Cross, sends aid all over the world to areas in great need. They are often the first to arrive, and work in dangerous conditions. Through war, through strife, through natural disaster like Katrina, these volunteers leave their life of comfort to help strangers when they need them most. The crews are predominately medical staff… doctors and nurses who selflessly share their education with desperate populations, and do so at their own risk.
The lecture was put on mostly for the benefit of local donors, who want to see how their money is spent. So the featured speaker was a nurse, Brenda Moldova, who twice a year, volunteers where ever she is needed for one month at a time. Well spoken and elegant, Brenda told poignant stories of her experiences to the back drop of her personal photo collection. It made the connection that much closer for the audience.
During her talk, she made several points that struck me. As she showed the pictures of little children in threadbare torn t shirts, she acknowledged she had a closet full of clothes, most of which she doesn’t wear. As she showed another picture of a child carrying dirty water, she said how she takes for her granted the water that flows cleanly from multiple taps in her house. And as she recognized how our own health care system was flawed, she gained a greater appreciation for it after a one woman, crawled into her tent in Africa one night, after she spent two days dragging her body across the land, without help, for the slightest chance of medical attention. She made point after point to remind us of the rights we take for granted… the rights we even have the freedom to complain about or ignore. We buy water in bottles, we have access to food, clothing, shelter, money to burn on entertainment, we live relatively free from the atrocities of war…. And we do little to help others. And there are so many who need our help! Its like we as a population exalt in our rights, and don’t share them with others. Why?
My first reaction was to be overwhelmed by what I was seeing and hearing. My second was to be judgmental as I looked at the Bergdorf/Bellevue blonde brigade of bored housewives and wondered as they sat there, in their expensive clothes and perfect manicures, if what they were hearing weighed as heavily on them as their very large diamond rings. I quickly realized that wasn’t fair. They have donated, and have given their time. I changed that reflection to myself…what I am I going to do with the knowledge I have?
So I am working on that journey…continuing to educate myself and learning how I can be a responsible member of humanity. Next month I begin volunteering in the organization. Right now I save the few pennies I have and would spend on magazines and giving it to the strangers a world away who need it more than I do.
I do recommend their website. http://www.nwmedicalteams.org/sf/Home.aspx And even more, I recommend a book I am reading by Don Cheadle called “Not on Our Watch.” It is an easy read, though the subject manner, Genocide, is not so easy! The appeal to this book is the exploration of what the average person, the busy so busy with life and overwhelmed with such issues, can do to help. Even in small steps .