I Love My Kids!

My middle daughter has to do a report on a medical scientist who invented something or whose research benefited mankind. She had no idea where to start, so I made some suggestions - Linus Pauling and his research on Vitamin C, Dr. Jarvik and the artificial heart, the guy who invented penicillin... but none of these interested her.

So I asked her, "Well, can you think of a medical invention that has made a big difference in the lives of people around the world?" She thought for a minute and said, "Laxatives?"

She's brilliant, I tell you. And she makes me laugh to boot.

On Swine Flu, Self-Absorption and Doing What's Right

So far, according to the BBC, there have been 152 deaths from the swine flu in Mexico, 51 confirmed cases (but no deaths) in the US, 3 confirmed cases in New Zealand, and 2 in the UK. The swine flu is everywhere on the news, and well it should be, if human life is valued.

But what if I told you that 60,000 people died of cholera in Zimbabwe a few months back? Or that 1,000 people die from AIDS every day in South Africa (and that's just South Africa; not the rest of the continent)? Or that 2,000,000 children are orphans here in South Africa because of AIDS, or that 34% of the population lives on less than $2 a day?

Why is it that the US only seems to care about and report on catastrophes that might affect its own borders/people? With all due respect, I guess we're all self-absorbed to some extent: we only care when something affects or might affect us.

I've been thinking a lot about the need to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do, whether anyone notices or not, whether there is any incentive or not... even if I suffer for it - the right thing is still the right thing to do. May we all have such courage as the times demand, to rise to new levels of integrity and purposeful living.

Did I Really Say That?

I think it's high time for a funny post, so in an effort to lighten things up I decided to humiliate myself and tell you all of the horrible mistakes I've made in my attempt to learn Afrikaans:

1. Tonight we hosted a braai for some friends of ours. I served vlakoek for dessert (cake with custard filling), but when I served it, I said it was plakoek. "Vla" means custard, but "pla" means to vex, annoy, bother, be a nuisance.

2. In thanking some friends, I meant to tell them that they were angels. I knew the Afrikaans word for angel is "engel", but I didn't know the plural. Ahh... the difference one tiny letter can make! If you add an "e" to the end it becomes "engele" which means angels. I, unfortunately, added an "s" making the word "engels", which means "englishmen"... not an insult, perhaps, but to an Afrikaner it is not exactly endearing.

3. (I saved the best for last) A friend's elderly mother wanted to teach me to cook traditional Afrikaans meals for dinner. I was trying to say that I would like his mother to teach me to cook dinner, but what I actually said was, "Yes, I would like to cook your mother for dinner."

Random Quote

This made me stop and think for a long time:

"People in our world place such a premium on intelligence that they mistakenly assume those who are smart are also right."

I SURVIVED!

I survived a presidential election in Africa... I'd wear the t-shirt if they made one.

(my South African friends will think I'm being ridiculous, but for a Californian like me this was no small thing!)

On The Eve of Elections

Tomorrow South Africa will elect a new president. In the year and a half I have lived here, tomorrow's winner will be the third president. After President Mbeki's forced resignation, and then interim President Kgalema Motlanthe, tomorrow's expected winner is Jacob Zuma, a man recently acquitted (mysteriously, dare I say) of 16 corruption charges, a man who said he wouldn't get AIDS because he "took a shower" afterwards, a man whose theme song is "Bring Me My Machine Gun", a man who says that the news media "must be reformed."

On the eve of tomorrow's election, I am feeling introspective, thoughtful. In all the years I lived in the U.S., I never worried about a presidential election. Sure, I voted for who I thought would be best, but even when "my" candidate lost, I never feared for my country. Had doubts, maybe, or even disappointments, but never fear. And now I find myself living in a country - a beautiful country - in which tomorrow's election holds such uncertainty, such fear of the future. Will things turn violent? Probably not. Will South Africa "go the way of Zimbabwe"? I fervently pray not.

But I will say this: I realise, on a night like this, how fortunate I am to have lived in such safety all of my life thus far. I do not think most people in the world can say that. Yet never once do I regret the move to South Africa. This is where God has placed me, and this is where I shall stand. I choose not to fear the future. I choose instead to walk forward with my eyes fixed on Jesus.

Come Again?

I passed a store today that was having a "Buy one get one for 1¢" sale. The thing is, the smallest coin in South African currency is a 5¢ coin. They always round down, so that would mean, essentially, "Buy one get one free"... right? I'm still trying to figure that one out.