PerpetualI am so singularly
focused on preparing for the Board exam (United States Medical Licensure
Examination, Step 1) that I have little creative juice available for
writing. My aim is so true that I am aimless in all other areas.
Maggie's still in Lusaka, and while the acute mourning of her
brother's passing has ended, that belies the mourning that will continue
for the remainder of her days, as well as her family's. Maggie also got
two bonus funerals for her rapid visit to Lusaka. A cousin and an uncle
passed away while she was there. The cousin was 19, and the uncle was
about Maggie's age - late thirties. This is the life of Zambia. If it
seems remarkable, be corrected; it is not remarkable. This is everyday
life in the segment of the world that fails to meet the entertainment
criteria that makes news fit to broadcast in America. I'm bitter about
that. If I were in charge of a newspaper, the headlines would be bold
print that filled a third of a folded newspaper. It would read that
9,000 people died yesterday of preventable causes in Africa. It would
fill the first page, and be continued on the second page. It would
describe the pain of loss felt by parents, by orphans, by spouses, by
communities whose spare time is spent attending to the funeral du
jour. If I seem bitter it's because I'm justifiably frustrated by
the lack of attention to what I believe should be the number one
priority of our governments. All of our governments. We as a people that
live on this planet owe it to each other to provide adequacy, at
least, to each other.
I want to get out of this rut of perpetual lament. I realize I
complain too much, especially here. With each turn of my thoughts, I am
forced to bend back, as if gravity is pulling me, to attending to the
problem of inadequate health care in sections of the world despite the
existence of adequate health care in other sections. Governments were
developed to assist societies to function. Ours (in the United States)
does that. But the global society does not have a government, and unless
individual governments step up and offer assistance to those governments
that have failed (not failing, failed) provision of societal support,
then we as a race will continue to lose numbers of our own at an
inconceivable rate. I continue to rant, and I am not sure if it serves
any purpose other than to ventilate my frustration as I sit on the bench
and wait to get in the game.
At least I am training, and learning what I want to so that I will
have the highest potential for affecting good and change with regard to
provision of health care in Zambia. Give me time. Let those who
would...Let them hold on. Please.
