Whether you believe in a god or, like me, are an unbeliever, there is but one thing you need do to feel yourself enveloped within the thick, warm, soft feathers of an angel's wings: spend a week at a refugee camp, travel over 30 hours back to your home, and then pay the slightest bit of attention to your bed. Never has the cushion of my mattress felt so gentle and caressing to my tired limbs as it did last night, nor have I felt so grateful and aware of what I consider "simple pleasures" - a thermostat, my cat jumping on my bed to awaken me, my morning tea, my CD player filled with my favorite Irish tunes.
Life is beyond inequitable. I can't begin to imagine what it would take to bring countries such as Ghana to the standards I take for granted. Yes, there are some modern shopping malls, nearly everyone has a cell phone, there is electricity, and some homes are rather luxurious. But for the average Ghanaian - and certainly for the Liberian refugees at the camp - a life like mine looks light years away. May I at least have the good sense to be grateful for what I have.
No comments:
Post a Comment