I haven’t even arrived in Africa yet and already I’m overwhelmed by the ways life here and life there are so different – and so unfair.
Edina emailed me yesterday to say that one of the younger children, Moses, was bitten by a dog. She took him to the clinic in town and he was given a tetanus shot. The doctor wanted him to have the rabies vaccine as well – but at 2000 KES a dose and the need for 3 doses – Edina just couldn’t afford that. (FYI – 6000 KES is equal to about $83 Canadian dollars.)
So here is the paradox. We (members of the ‘developed’ world) have invested money in the technology that made it possible for me to send the needed funds via a money-gram in under 15 minutes. But people in another country living literally day to day with very limited ways of earning money for their families have to pay virtually the same amount of money for a vaccine as I do. (I won’t even get into the issue of government-funded healthcare!)
I know – this is just the first of many examples to come. But they are now affecting me on a much more personal level than ever before. There will certainly be more rants to come so I apologize ahead of time.
In the meantime, from my comfortable desk chair and computer keyboard all I can do now is pray that when little Moses gets to the clinic the vaccine will be there, he will get the first dose promptly and that it will work and that he will heal quickly. He will get the first hug when I arrive to stay with them.
Until the next time….Cathy
