the day of the proposal

 

I didn’t want to post this, this week. After all, last week was a serious topic and I don’t want to get people down or frighten them away from reading. However I didn’t feel right saving it for later either. This is current, this was what I did on Monday. So please forgive me and keep going on this journey with me.

 

A black box on a table under a makeshift marquee.

Food to feed hundreds.

Seemingly endless speeches in languages I do not understand.

Children playing.

We went to a burial. For a child of one and a half years. Anne, Abdul and I attended. There were not many tears. It is seemingly not cultural to cry. If it had been a Buganda funeral, I am told that there might even be professional criers brought in. This child was the youngest of four. His older brother who couldn't have been more than 3 came and sat on my lap as we waited under the tent for the lunch to be prepared. The eating happens before the service. This boy became my friend - he was very alert and greeted me in English.

I am not entirely sure how or why this young boy died. He had been sick for most of his life. When he was four days old he was taken to hospital where, although it turns out he didn't have malaria, he was given 17 injections of quinine. Later (and I'm not sure how much later this was) the parents were told it was a form of meningitis. The service didn't seem to be the place to ask all the questions that were in my mind, nor could I have asked if I'd wanted to as we don't have the same language.

Nor did it seem right to get out my camera and start taking 'snaps' (the word that is used here). As much as I would like to give you a photo of the black box on the table, you will just have to take my word for it that it was heart wrenchingly small and humble. A box covered in black material which had been tacked on by gold thumbtacks.

I was asked to drive the car to the burial site, and the small black box was loaded into the back seat of the car. Abdul came in the car with me and we drove, slowly along with the hundreds who walked and sang. We reached the trading centre and the box was carried out behind the buildings through matooke (banana) plantations until we stopped in the middle of one of them where there was a hole in the ground. Then there was more talking and more singing and this young child was laid to rest.

Some statistics on child mortality.

• The under 5 mortality rate finally dropped below 10 million per year in 2006 - I'm not sure if this is something to be proud of as an international community.
• Depending which statistics you look at between 22000 and 30000 children under 5 die every day (most of them in the developing world)
• Of the 8.1 million under 5's who died in 2009, 4 million were from sub-saharan Africa.

 

About Child Deaths

Of the 8.1 million child deaths (under-5s) in 2009, the vast majority occurred in just two regions:

Breaking that down further,

Pasted from <http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-22000-children-died-around-the-world>

Some more numbers on the state of the world’s children

From UNICEF, the world’s premier children’s organization, part of the United Nations:

• 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation

• 1 billion children are deprived of one or more services essential to survival and development
• 148 million under 5s in developing regions are underweight for their age
• 101 million children are not attending primary school, with more girls than boys missing out

• 22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization

• 8 million children worldwide died before their 5th birthday in 2009
• 4 million newborns worldwide are dying in the first month of life
• 2 million children under 15 are living with HIV
• >500,000 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth

Source: State of the World’s Children, 2010 , UNICEF, p.18-19. See also ChildInfo.

Pasted from <http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-22000-children-died-around-the-world>

If you have made it through these statistics - well done. If you are challenged by these statistics - that's great. If you do something about these statistics - even better.

One of the worst things we can do is think that there is nothing we can do to make a difference. All around the world there are people on the ground making a difference. If you don't want to be one of those people the easiest way to help is with your money. Sponsor a child, make a donation, do something (I'm in Uganda volunteering for Australia HOPE International www.ahi.org.au - feel free to donate there!). Make it your responsibility to educate yourself about the world - and not just about what Justin Bieber is doing.

 

And remember….

A black box on a table under a makeshift marquee.

Food to feed hundreds.

Seemingly endless speeches in languages I do not understand.

Children playing.

 

Enjoy a blessed week

:)bron

ps – sorry about the lack of photos – as mentioned above i didn’t feel right about taking them