"If you are looking for fairness, you are on the wrong planet!"
26 Jul 2008 23:22:00 GMT
Written by: Lauralee Morris
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1965, St. Wilibrord's School, Chateauguay, Quebec
"But it’s not fair," I said to my grade 3 teacher Mrs. Ducey. I can’t even remember what my 8-year-old self was complaining about. Though I will always remember the response.
"If you are looking for fairness," she said, sounding uncharacteristically angry and exasperated, “you are on the wrong planet!” The moment was pivotal for me; I was shocked and shaken. What if it were true? What if the world was not a fair place? The idea conflicted with my childish schema of how the world worked.
2008, Southern Sudan
For every 20 babies born, 1 dies during the first 28 days of life.
Of 1000 babies born, 150 die before their first birthday.
One in four children die before the age of 5.
45% of children under 5 years old suffer from chronic diarrhea.
1 in 9 women dies during her lifetime of a pregnancy related cause.
For every 50 deliveries one mother dies of a pregnancy-related cause.
Only 5% of births are attended by a skilled attendant.
The adult literacy rate for women 15- 24 years is 2.5%.
Life Expectancy at birth is 42 years!
Mrs. Ducey eventually died quite young of a brain tumor, proving her point. And I eventually came to accept that the world was indeed, not a fair place.
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Dr. Lauralee Morris is a a general practitioner working for the Canadian branch of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Currently on her first mission with MSF, she is working in Lankien, Southern Sudan where MSF delivers basic health care services, including pregnancy care, therapeutic feeding, and programs for the treatment of tuberculosis and Kala Azar.
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