Change in perspective

Tonight was a very eye opening evening for me. I have joined this book club and met some of the most wonderful women that have truly impacted my life in such a tangible way.

One of the women went to Africa on a mission trip this past week. She is a nuro-surgeon and was there helping with a free clinic. Her husband is a Construction Superstar and in the three weeks he is going to be there is going to help build homes, a shelter, and several play areas for the children in these villages.

In preparing for the trip she had told us of the needs of this South African community like clothes, socks, shoes, your basic meds, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Advil, and vitamins basic things that you don't think about not having.

Another one of the women felt like it was time for her 7 year old daughter to understand giving for a good cause. So they went through her closet and it was hard for mother and daughter to let go of her "favorite poodle shirt, and sparkly light up sketchers" This was something we talked about more than once in our group how this mother and daughter knowing it was going to a good cause still had a hard time giving up these items that no longer fit.

Holly, the doctor who went on the mission came to our group tonight after missing two weeks to tell us the stories of the tragedy of this poverty stricken area and how many people had been treated by witch doctors and suffered from HIV/AIDS.

There was a family that stood out to her, a grandmother who had just buried her daughter who lost her life to AIDS and was caring for her three children. The eldest girl is 9 but the size of a 4 or 5 year old, her younger brother is 7 and twice her size, and their tiny baby brother at 9 months old didn't even weigh 10lbs.

He was suffering badly from malnutrition, dehydration, HIV/AIDS, and TB. This poor child was fighting with all of his little body to live and losing. He was rushed to a hospital to be made comfortable. The family was too poor to get milk so they fed the infant tea which could not sustain him.

In the evaluations of the rest of the family they found out the older sister also had HIV/AIDS. Not only was she grieving from losing her mother but now she had the disease that took her and so did her baby brother. The 7 year old boy thankfully did not test positive.

Holly and her husband spent a lot of time with the family and in wanted to help in every way that they could, she wanted to give them gifts, help them, and love on them. To keep order they don't get to hang on to the items they bring to donate it causes to many problems with people from the villages fighting and becoming a danger so the donations of clothes and such are given discretely.

Holly just happened to be with the group that was giving out the shoes and noticed this white pair of sparkly light up sketchers that she had neatly packed away and brought along from the 7 year old Park City girls closet. She hoped that they would fit this young girl who was trying to come to grips with the death sentence she was just given. AND THEY DID!!

She was able to give little Tara's shoes to this girl (I wish I could remember her name) and it was one of the most heart wrenching and touching stories she told us with tears streaming down her face this girl danced and twirled to watch the shoes light up.

Holly was able to take a picture and she framed it to give to Tara's mother with a letter from this young girl (translated because she didn't speak much English) of her thankfulness for something as simple as shoes.

We all cried tonight trying to come to grips with the simple day to day things we take for granted. I look at my $200 boots and long for my ass to fit in my $140 jeans and yet I am healthy, I have a home, clean water, food, and loving friends and family. Yet I worry about stuff! It was quite an eye opening evening.