In case you missed it Saturday

This article was printed in the Star last Saturday...

Imagine for a moment that you have absolutely nothing.  You have been forced to leave your home, your community, your job, your country.  You are living in a makeshift camp with thousands of others who have nothing.  You have barely enough food to get by, limited water and no electricity.

Now, along comes a do gooder from the United States who asks, “What can I bring you when I come?”  It would be like our fairy godmother appearing or the genie from the magic lamp.  You get one wish.  What will you ask for?  “We have money.  We can get you whatever you want.  Just ask.”

When we made that offer to residents of Shimelba refugee camp in Northern Ethiopia the response was swift and consistent.  Please bring us feminine hygiene supplies and soap.  They could ask for absolutely anything in the world and they want Kotex and Dial.  My husband and I will travel to Shimelba as part of my sabbatical which begins this week.  We will deliver the supplies they have requested from funds raised by our congregation.

It doesn’t take a great deal of money or effort to significantly improve the lives of many people in the world.  Often the solutions to poverty, illness, or conflict are so elementary it is difficult to comprehend why we aren’t trying them.  The book Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by  Nicholas D. Kristof and  Sheryl WuDunn reinforces that point with studies, statistics and stories.  They show how the worldwide problems of sex trafficking, gender based violence and medical issues associated with child birth can be addressed simply by educating women. 

Our government tries to help underdeveloped countries by pouring money into their militaries.  Too often our only solution to hunger is sending food.  The oppression of women in these cultures has either been  ignored or tacitly condoned by the faith communities.  People of faith are called to tend to the bodies, the spirits and the minds of all God’s children.  That means education and it is very difficult to get an education if you cannot go to school one week every month because of your period.

When we asked the refugees of Shimelba what we could bring them I thought it might be a stove, or I-Pods, or even a radio for news.  I thought they would want batteries or food.  I never imagined that on my first trip to Africa I would be delivering  Kotex and Dial.