Some Realities Of The Third World
Although we have been visiting The Third World for the last eight months, there haven’t been a lot of things that have really impacted me in a way that made me stop and think about the daily life and death realities of living here. But today we visited a maternity hospital and met a baby who’s mother had died while giving birth to him last night. He was a sleep when we first arrived and I honestly wasn’t impacted by it that much. But after we had finish praying for the sister of the woman who had died, the baby began to cry and I waited, expecting someone to bring a bottle, but after a few minutes nothing came. After a few more minutes someone came with what I had assumed was formula and gave it to the baby and he stopped crying. As we were leaving, one of the nurses that had been talking to Haley approached her and asked if there was any way we could buy some formula for the baby. They had been unable to contact the father of the baby and there was no money available to feed this baby. After three months in Africa being asked for money ten times a day and being surrounded by need you start to become immune to it and saying no is almost automatic with our small budget. But there are some times that you know the need is genuine and the cost is small. They weren’t asking us for a life time supply of formula or even a month. They were just asking if we could provide 1,100 Naira or about 7 US Dollars so they could buy one can of formula until they had a plan for this baby. Then they proceeded to explain that the other mothers in the hospital had been providing milk for the baby so far, something that we would never even think to consider as an option in the states. We provided the money and went on our way-most of us in a bit of a daze and not just from the hot African sun that was now beating down from directly over head as we walked the red dirt roads back to our house. But from the third world, this was a reality check that affected even the most veteraned hearts among us. It inspired me to to look up some statistics for Nigeria and I decided to include some of them just to help paint a picture
In the US
6.4 infants die per 1000 born before they reach there first birthday
1in 4800 women will die and some time during there life due to complications with pregnancy or child birth
The average life expectancy is 78yrs
99% of people are literate
In Nigeria one the more populated and advanced countries in Africa
94 infants die per 1000 born before they reach there first birthday
1 in 18 women will die and some time during there life due to complications with pregnancy or child birth
The average life expectancy is 47yrs
68% of people are literate
These are the people that you have sent us out to reach. These are the people that I am spending my days with. These are the people that we are reaching with Gods love. These are the people that we are trying to show there is a another way than the way they have been taught. These are the the people that are forever changing my perspective on life.
I still need to raise $5009.10 so that I can finish The World Race. Going into debt for anything isn’t something that I am willing to do in my life including to stay on The Race. So I need to raise $2000 before the end of this month. I know that this is not only possible but I believe that it is going to happen. Please just take a second and pray and ask God if and how much He would have you give toward partnering with what we are doing here. If you feel led to give, then click the link near the top left of my page that says support. Please don’t think that any amount is to small, it all adds up. Most of my donations are less than $100 and we have already raised almost $9000. I want to thank you all for your prayers and financial support that you have already given. Please don’t let the end of my race come sooner than it should.
