A Juxtaposition of What Is Important

On Oprah today, they revisted a story they had several years ago that moved me deeply. It was about a Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. The hospital essentially is a medical facility that is completely run on donations that surgically corrects fistulas in young girls who develop them after going through days of childbirth at a young age (9 years old, 12 years old, 14...). They are ostracized from society and their families due to the odor of feces and urine that they cannot contain.

The story not only shared the miracle that is the hospital but also of a simple American housewife who coordinated with many others the making of bracelets to give to the patients. That seems like a meager contribution but when you consider what shunning, shame and even being locked up like an unwanted dog in a dirt shed - imagine what a bracelet from a woman in another land over seas can mean to you?

The story is inspiring not only for the women who have the courage to seek help to correct this problem but the incredible selflessness of the medical volunteers who make this possible. In a society like America, we cannot imagine being fourteen and living through what these girls have had to endure. As adult Americans, can we imagine what it's like to give your life over to not saving lives but "merely" improving the dignity of a young girl?

Sometimes I wonder, because in the midst of this miracle of courage and mercy, a commercial for BJ's Warehouse Club came on and depicted a woman staring at a chocolate fondue fountain and succumbing to the tempatation and starts licking the fountain of chocolate.

There are women in this world leaking urine and sleeping in their own feces because they were raped or forced to marry at 10 years of age. Exactly what do we, as Americans, have to complain about when we have Chocolate Fondue Fountains at our disposal for $49.95.

$49.95 which is, incidentally, a half years pay in Ethiopia. That's a US equivalent of $15,000.

Just something to think about this Christmas. The Raclette Grill seems less neccessary right now.