Emotionally numb?
Last night I was working at a ‘Youth to Youth’ forum talking about international development, my experiences as a volunteer in Bangladesh, and the work CARE Australia does with poor and vulnerable communities around the world. As far as work goes, it’s not a bad gig. I love that it’s part of my day job to meet new people all the time and talk about poverty, women and the opportunity we have to end extreme poverty in our lifetime. It’s a subject I never tire of – or at least I haven’t yet.
But last night I was asked if, after working in international development for a while, and having lived in and travelled through developing countries, whether I have become emotionally numb towards it all. My first reaction was to say “Absolutely not!” At the time I went on to talk about the incredible experience of seeing development in action, and the transformations that occur when people emerge from extreme poverty as per the ‘script’. If I’m honest, though, I didn’t actually think about the answer really.
Until this morning when I read this article about maternal health in Afghanistan which tells the story of 35 year old Rogul who lost eight babies prematurely, and her ninth baby boy died within 24 hours of being born, though she carried him full term.
And when I read the story of 14 year old Hena who was whipped to death in Bangladesh after being found guilty of having an affair with the man who actually raped her.
Both stories left me horrified today. Cut to the core. Furious. Upset. Frustrated. Impassioned. And definitely not numb.
What a relief.
[image: what maternal health can look like, Bangladesh 2009]
