Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Some things seem a little heavier in person

If you research any country in the developing world, you'll see statistics for "Infant Mortality". That basically refers to how many children die. The lower the "infant mortality rate", the more likely a child is to live to adulthood. It's a sad number, but has always seemed a little remote to me...hypothetical, I guess.

Last night, as we sat with 11 of the people we'll be training from around Tanzania, we each shared a little bit our life story. Of the 11 Tanzanians, 5 told us that they had lost a child. Five out of 11...!

As I looked into their eyes, "infant mortality" didn't sound so remote anymore...

Two of the children died of malaria. After the evening was done, I went back to my hotel room. Took my malaria medication, and made sure my mosquito netting completely surrounded my bed....

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