I'm getting better by the hour. My illness lingers, but I am vastly improved over yesterday. I think I'll be fine when I wake up - before I read the results of the Presidential Debate. Only two weeks to go.
I spent half an hour drawing some Halloween decorations for the party on Sunday. They are primitive and crude, but this is not a holiday that is traditionally celebrated here. We'll at least have some festivities to take away the sting of all the suffering that goes on here. A friend of mine from the States sent me a Halloween card. How sweet. It will be the centerpiece of a display at our party. She even offered to send decorations along to us. This is so kind of her.
The suffering here is intense. Social services are lacking for the poor. Health insurance pays for only certain procedures and typically not long-term medicine. People here say if you are poor, then you die. The meager services that I know are one-shot interventions and people need help just to have subsistence living. It is very sad and one never knows which decisions to make because each of them are urgent.
The Jordanian government announced that they foiled attempts of retaliations against pro-Western businesses and diplomats. Six years ago, there was destruction at one of the larger hotels. This was to coincide with its anniversary, but the government was able to intervene and mitigate further violence. The government is on top of things. Hooray!
I am always trying to establish boundaries here. People are rather immediate about their concerns. If they want something, they show up at the doorstep and demand satisfaction. There is absolutely no sense of planning. Incredible. They see nothing wrong with their ways and they are very hurt if you say, "come back tomorrow."
We survived the sandstorm. It was mild here in Amman, but Akaba had greater devastation. A flash flood killed a man and his daughter. Traffic was at a standstill because of the visibility. This is quite a different world than the one I know.
Oh, and I saw a boy delightfully eating a string of potato chips on a skewer. What a sight.
"People here say if you are poor, then you die." I have seen this the years we lived in Delhi...
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your life in Amman with us.
It is awful. I feel powerless.
DeleteOh John, what a situation. I'm glad you are feeling better. You didn't eat kibbeh, did you? I had a bout of stomach challenges after having some of that one night in Amman.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Fran. No kibbeh for me. I've had it here early on, but not much of it because it does not appeal to me. I think it is from the water bottle I kept refilling. It had a bit of a tiny smell to it, but I was thirsty. I'm back to good health now.
DeleteGlad to hear that you are getting over your bout of yukkiness.
ReplyDeleteThe poverty and illness situation confronting you plus the problems of boundary setting are huge personal challenges thrown up by living as an expat and like you say the feeling of helplessness can be acute at times. It brings back vivid memories of when I was in Malawi.
You do what you can John !! Blessings
It is life or death for some people. I can give a bandaid donation for the month, but the problem exists the next month. People here realize that one must suffer in faith and the next world brings a better existence. I keep hearing the words of Jesus, "what you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me." I have to wrestle with some of these situations.
DeleteIf an unmarried woman has a baby, no birth certificate will be recorded. Therefore, if the mother tries to leave the country, the child has to stay behind because there is no record the child belongs to her. Ouch.
People walk around with undiagnosed illnesses because they are trying to provide for their childrens' medical situations, which are unending and without medical insurance. Ouch.
There's so much more too.
John, Philomena provided the link to this site today on her blog. Your situation reminds me of that of the son of a friend who works with Doctors Without Borders and is presently in Chad. We have no idea how people suffer around the world for we tend to be so insulated from it.
ReplyDeleteThis quote comes to mind: “Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.” — Frederick Buechner
May we all be compassionate doers of the Word. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, Lynda, that is a great quote. I can't believe how much suffering there is in the world with few means to alleviate it. I'm so pleased Doctors without Borders exists, but they can only do so much. What will it take?
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