I Believe In Zero

I Believe In Zero

"...I had never considered that the water pouring forth from my
sink tap was a luxury beyond the grasp of millions of people. Nor had
I ever stopped to think what a difference something as simple as hand
washing can make in lowering the number of children who take ill, or
for that matter, who die. When I was a child, my mother constantly
told me, 'Wash your hands before you eat anything,' so I had assumed
this to be common practice everywhere. How incredible to think that
for vast stretches of humanity it wasn't."
Incredible indeed! And in Caryl Stern's I Believe In Zero you
learn how, incredibly but sadly true, much of what we take for granted
as basics is beyond the reach of many of the fellow human beings we
share this globe with. Stern knows what she's talking about. She's
president and CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF. The book, written from her
experience in the field, is a wonderful blend of personal narrative
and background information. If you have a human heart beating in your
chest, there's at least one thing in the book that will touch and,
hopefully, tug at it.
Rosa's story really tugged at my heart. When she went into
labor she was working in a rice paddy. Unlike most of us in America
who are driven to modern hospitals, she walked four hours in over 106
degree heat. Can you imagine? At the clinic where she gave birth
there were only the most basic help and no pain meds. Most ominously,
if there had been any complications, mother and baby would mostly
likely have died. As someone who would have died along with my first
baby if I'd lacked access to emergency c section I surely can care
about that.
As a parent of three I have had the great fortune of having free
public education for my children. They are now in grad school,
college, and high school. My heart would have broken if they'd had to
spend their childhoods as garbage pickers, sweatshop workers, or
prostitutes without access to even basic literacy. That is the bleak
reality for too many innocent kids. We aren't even talking about
young people in refugee camps who have often seen family and friends
slaughtered and homes and communities destroyed by armies or rebels.
If these grim realities constituted the entirity of the book it
would just be too heart breaking to read. Stern also tells us of the
strength and resilience of the people in third world countries. If we
share out of our bounty we can make such a difference. Stern says it
much better than I can, "The material divide may be huge, but we are
all human beings with the same goals and desires. We all love our
children and want the best for them...It might sound trite, but it's
absolutely true and often forgotten; what joins us as human beings is
at least as important as what divides us."
Amen to that!
Normally I recommend buying books or borrowing. For this book I
think all who can afford to do so should outright buy. Royalties,
rather than going to the author, are accruing to her fine organization
to help children survive and thrive.
On a personal note, as a Methodist, I feel like I have a mandate to
look beyond myself and do what I can for those in need. The God I
worship said whatsoever I do for my fellow humans I do for God. A
number of my birthdays have been UNICEF fund raisers. As soon as I
have a permanent job I'm going to start sponsoring a child through
another organization.
A great big shout out goes out to workers for UNICEF and other
organizations who deliver services, often in volatile situations at
great personal risk.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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