| High-Tech Guilt and Low-Tech Solutions |
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| FaithChunks | |||
| Written by Diana Bridges | |||
| Monday, 19 July 2010 00:00 | |||
 A couple of weeks ago I was running errands and stopped to put gas in the car. When I was finished, the car wouldn’t start, so an employee helped me get it to a spot in the shade while I waited for my brother to come with the jumper cables. An hour later I was at an auto parts store ready to buy a battery. The clerk asked if I was sure it was the battery and I told him that since the jump start worked, I assumed it was. He shook his head sadly at my ignorance as he explained the perils of such an assumption. He then sent a technician out with sophisticated equipment to check on the health of my car battery, among other things. When the tests were complete, he handed me a printout that looked like it could have come from a fancy machine at a hospital. It confirmed that the battery needed to be replaced and I was soon on my way.
I’m really glad to have expert automotive help when I need it. Not being mechanically inclined, it’s good to have others to rely on. My experience got me thinking about other things that I’ve counted on, even taken for granted, that others can’t. For example, each of the three times I went to the hospital for the birth of a baby, I was attended by well-trained medical staff and surrounded by state-of-the-art equipment. My experience is in stark contrast to that of many women in Haiti. My friend Cindy Dawson, Executive Director of Global Women, recently visited with traditional birth attendants in a remote area of Haiti. Many women depend on them for help when their babies are born, and these birth attendants depend on birthing kits put together by Global Women groups and others. These kits contain gauze pads, Betadine solution, gloves, a razor blade to cut the umbilical cord, and other simple items to help ensure the safety of both mother and child. Global Women is also partnering with an organization called His Nets to provide mosquito nets to protect families from malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses. When I contrast the technological help available to keep my car properly diagnosed and running smoothly to the medical help available to Haitians and many others around the world, I can respond by feeling guilty. A more practical response would be to work with others to put together birthing kits, write a check to buy mosquito nets, and pray for the doctors, nurses, and traditional birth attendants who are faithfully meeting needs in difficult places. To learn more about how to provide birthing kits and mosquito nets to communities around the world, go to www.globalwomengo.org and www.hisnets.org. Photo Credit
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