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Now Hear This

So word of our little Emergency Medical Fund has gotten around. A couple nights ago, Joy, slightly agog, called me over to her desk. A new wave of donations to the fund had come through, some from folks we knew well, and others from people we’d never heard of. Turned out that, among other things, wunnerful, wunnerful folks like Claudia and Stephanie had linked to Joy’s blog and helped spread word of the fund and the work Lena’s doing.

So I added up the new fund total, and got more than a little agog myself. Seriously, go look at it. No. Go right now and look. I’ll wait.

Yeah. The little fund that Joy originally set up to bankroll a $200 wheelchair has somehow grown like topsy, and now it’s doing all sorts of neat things–funding surgeries, supplying people with dental care and eyeglasses, providing medicines and treatments for folks who can’t afford them. And ya know, the lion’s share of that fund came from small donations. $5 here, and $10 there, and maybe $15 or $20 from somebody who decided to buy that skein of Koigu or STR later, so they could send us money now.

So here’s the thing. While adding up the fund totals, I also get a chance to read the comments people have sent along with their donation. A certain percentage of the comments are thank yous for making the medical stuff happen. There’s also a certain percentage of comments that are apologetic: “Sorry I couldn’t send more.” “It’s a small amount, but…” If you are one of these folks who feels guilty because you thought your donation wasn’t big enough, you can stop right now. Instead, pat yourself on the back for being somebody who actually got off their butt and made something happen. India’s economics are such that even a couple dollars makes and enormous difference in someone’s quality of life. Some examples:

US$5 allowed an old cave nun to purchase the proper steroid-based inhalers to control her asthma for an entire month. She’d previously been buying the cheapest inhalers from the chemist when she could afford to buy them at all. Lena first encountered this nun out on Tso Pema’s kora path, incredibly hypoxic from lack of oxygen and badly in need of a nebulizer treatment, still gamely trying to do her daily meditative walk around the lake.

Another US$5 allowed an old woman to see properly for the first time in years, by providing her with a pair of glasses.

US$10 will provide a man with type II diabetes to purchase the greens and other vegetables he needs for a proper diet, for an entire month. As folks living at the poverty level do world wide, he’s been filling in with starchy staples like rice and potatoes.

I could go on and on here, but you get the idea. Even two dollars can accomplish a lot, by purchasing ibuprofen, or vitamin supplements. Whoever you are, wherever you are, consider yourself hugged and blessed today for your contribution.

So no more guilt, mmmkay?

March 5th, 2007 Posted by admin | Fiber Arts, India | one comment