your turn

i’ve been able to sit down with one of my coworkers over the past two days to learn about one of our programs.  he works as a coordinator of the prog and has so much knowledge/wisdom.  i could sit down and just ask him questions about what he thinks about certain things and soak in his responses.  anyways, we were talking about our water, sanitation, and hygiene programs to build water points to help get clean water to more households in rural areas (in a move towards ultimately decreasing childhood mortality caused by consuming dirty water).  and he started talking about the effect that climate change has had on these communities, and it’s seriously awful, unfair, and devestating. I think only when you come to the most rural communities around the world will you be able to see the huge changes that are happening because of environmental pollution and being neglectful of the earth.  it’s much harder now to dig wells even compared to a few years ago because the water level is much lower.  in 2003, we only had to dig 7m to get water, now we have to dig 15m.  that’s a dramatic difference for someone who lives in a rural area and doesn’t have the right tools to dig to such a deep level.  it means that it’s harder to get water for your family, any water…regardless of whether it’s clean or not.  also the length of the rainy seasons have changed.  just 10 years ago the rainy season here was about 100 days long, but now it’s down to about 30 days. i couldn’t believe it, my heart broke when i heard this.  because the people that we work with are almost all farmers who depend on the rains for their livelihoods.  if the rains don’t come, it makes it almost impossible to grow food to be able to harvest and provide for their families. so this might be another reason why mortality (death) and morbidity (sickness) rates are so high in these areas.  it’s even worse in the Sahara.  today for the first time i could understand why many people in affluent areas reject the notion of climate change saying that it’s just a made up theory: because they haven’t been able to see the devestating impact of their actions (our actions) on people living in far away areas.  ah it’s so easy in america to forget the people who suffer the most from effects of pollution, a resource-intense food system, and even having the ability to eat all vegetables all year round (it’s not natural).  and so easy for me to forget as well.  but as i learn more and see what sort of impact my actions (our actions) have – it seriously makes me want to change.  the privileged have the cushion not to feel the devestating impact of climate change, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it.

there were moments both yesterday and today where i felt like i’ve found a gap that i can fill both at work and outside of work. last night i brought my computer home and taught one of my guards how to turn it on, use the start menu, what types of keys are on the keyboard, and even a little bit of Word.  it was a humbling experience for me.  i realize that if i know how to use a computer, i’m probably more priviledged than 70% of the world’s population.  and having regular access to my own computer, wow that number is even higher (maybe 80%?).  and also today at work i was just showing people how much we can do with gmail, and helping someone with excel.  and i realized that it’s such a priviledge to have been able to use computers at school and kind of grown up with them.  being able to type fast is also something out of the ordinary here.  little things that i’ve been able to learn along the way – even knowing how to search for stuff efficiently on google that’s a blessing.  little things make a big difference.  and it’s amazing that i can partner with people here and contribute what i can to the team.  a niche that i can fill!