Being of a mathematical sort of mind it has often struck me that The Third World or Undeveloped World (where I live) is approximately two thirds of the land mass and population of the world. And while I am in the wealthy bracket in that World (though I am poor by a lot of First World measures) confronting the poverty of most of my world is unavoidable. I am familiar with the litany of lack of freedom and corruption and sheer greed that contributes to this poverty, of AIDS and lack of health care and education and adequate food, how drought impacts vulnerable populations, decimating them. I live with these realities everyday.
I am reading Richard Foster's fascinating book Streams of Grace and in one small paragraph in this densely packed book he mentions that perhaps the Third World is not so much undeveloped as the First World is overdeveloped. This thought was arresting to me as a Third Worlder and I have mulled it over for weeks. It releives a certain sense of inferiority. Then this weekend it has been brought into sharp focus.
A young eight year old son of a distant part of our extended family was burnt playing with fire nearly a year ago. There is no paediatric burns unit here and the care he got was rudimentary. Now he is still underweight and not yet over the shock of the burns and the initial treatment. Consequently he has healed with some thick keliod scarring, especially across his chest which will hinder his growth in the future. He needs pressure bandages and a special gell to control the scaring and assist in making it more flexible so in a few years time when he is over the shock and grown up a little more he can have corrective surgery. But it cannot be done here as there is only one plastic surgeon in Zimbabwe and he doesn't do paediatric work because of his age. Yet in the First World there are a bunch of plastic surgeons who frequently do work that is purely elective. Not that there is anything wrong essentially with what they do....just an inequity is all I'm saying.
And I wonder how we as Christians are supposed to respond to this sort of situation?
What do you think?
Hmmmm. That is quite a situation for me to ponder as I sit here suffering through stage one (of many) of a plastic surgery procedure that is more elective than not.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I did think that this whole concept was fraught with complications. However I do not see how any treatment related to breast cancer can be elective. You are fortunate enough to have more than rudimentary care and have some choices.
ReplyDeleteIndeed I am glad that you have written as you have done for between you and a friend with breast cancer in Germany I can tell a friend here that she needs to go down to South Africa where there are more options and her medical insurance will cover it.
Oh Gaye....this is so sad. In this country we have problems where someone coild ot get thus care due to cost and lack of insurance, even when the medical skill is available...
ReplyDelete