only I have the power to tread on my soul

Today was one of those miraculous, fantastic days where I wondered, at times, if the universe truly is conspiring to shower me with blessings. The messages are everywhere, one just needs to know how to look for them, to see them and recognize them. Because I know damned well life on Earth is severely messed up, but there are so many rays of hope. For everything that knocks me down, something comes along to lift me up out of hopelessness and despair, to ignite the spark within me, my passion and desire for positive change in the face of destruction, and my spirit of resistance. I see, acknowledge, and revile forces of oppression, attempt to resist and fight injustices, and try to remind myself the responsibility I have as a middle-class Westerner to use my voice and my power to support the efforts of those who are on the front lines of equality and justice movements. We who are living in luxury, because it gets to a point where it is goes beyond mere comfort, have an obligation to those who have not shared our wealth and from whose suffering we have benefited, even if it has been unwittingly. It is about volunteering our time and effort, donating funds when and where possible, educating ourselves, helping those individuals we can while working with others to create change on a larger scale, educating ourselves about inequalities and injustice, and so on and so forth.

My my my, I have so much on my mind. My original intent was to say something about the fantastic evening that I had, but it is getting late and I have to wake up in roughly 6 hours. On that note, I will make a quick summary ... The Interpares event was great, I was inspired by the women who spoke and shared the stories of women with whom they work. I enjoyed talking about Nigeria and Ghana with Lisa and her friend. It was good to see Chris at the talk. I spontaneously hugged Kelli, Jeanine and Joanna at work today and received smiles in return. Georgina, my marvelous, lovely and generous friend, took me to see K-OS, for which I am grateful (the show blew me away). And last, but not least, Abdul, the Sudanese man, who made my heart feel like a begging bowl, full to the brim with both joy and sorrow.

In short, life can be and is often very beautiful, even though there is so much needless suffering in this world. We can change the world, make it better. Not all, but most of it is preventable. I believe, do you?

in a yellow wood ...

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

1. The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.	20

something good

I was on my way to bed when I remembered a random goodness from earlier today. At lunch with my friend Liz (who, incidentally, is one of my favourite persons), I was filling her in on a news item about which I was writing an article for our website. The news item in question was that the U.S. Senate passed an amendment, to the 2008 fiscal year foreign aid bill, on September 6 which overturns the Global Gag Rule.

Officially known as the Mexico City Policy, this measure prohibits international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) receiving family planning assistance from the U.S. government from supporting safe abortion in any way, even if they were to use their own separate funding to do so. This not only restricts free speech on abortion-related issues but also forces overseas NGOs to make an unfair choice between accepting U.S. funding in order to provide other essential health services and forgoing much needed funding for sexual and reproductive health initiatives, including providing safe abortions, counseling and referrals for safe abortions and political advocacy (i.e., lobbying) for safe abortion.

To clarify, 'safe abortion' refers to abortions performed by qualified medical professionals in a safe, clean health care facility. By contrast, women who do not have access to legal safe abortion services may seek out unsafe abortions, which often result in serious medical complications and/or death. For instance, in Nigeria, where I lived and worked for nearly a year and a half, the majority of the estimated 610,000 abortions performed annually in this country are unsafe and more than 140,000 result in hospitalization due to complications.

"Unsafe abortions contribute significantly to the maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria which, at an estimated 800 deaths per 100,000 live births, is one of the highest in the world (WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA, 2003)." Source: Ipas in Nigeria

Getting back to my original train of thought ... As I was informing Liz about this development I noticed that the people at the next table had stopped talking briefly. I was certain that they had overheard our conversation and I wondered briefly what their reactions were to what I was saying. My curiosity was satisfied when I said "because what it really comes down to is whether you want women to have safe abortions or unsafe abortions" and the woman at the next table responded "safe abortions!" It made me feel so happy to be provided with this unexpected affirmation of something I care about deeply. She added "I think it's really great you are talking about this." When I told her that I work for a sexual and reproductive health and rights NGO she said sincerely "good for you! That's great!"

So that was a something good that happened today. As an aside, the good news about the U.S. Senate's decision to rescind the Global Gag Rule is unfortunately diminished by the certainty that Bush will veto the bill in an effort to preserve the Mexico City Policy, of which he is a staunch defender. Then again, this latest development should help to promote public awareness regarding the severe negative impacts that the policy has had on international NGOs efforts to promote comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and rights, in particular in the developing world where rates of unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and STIs including HIV/AIDS are high.