One Person At A Time

Submitted by Dr. Kurtis Sauder

Dear Heroes,

I recently heard a story on the radio about the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index, an attempt at quantifying quality of life in different countries around the world using data on health, income, education, etc. While no index is perfect for measuring quality of life, I assumed there was some relevance and immediately wondered where Zambia was on the list. It turns out that Zambia ranks 150th out of 169 countries ranked (the United States is 4th). Some of the numbers that lead to such a dismal ranking for Zambia include a life expectancy of 47 years and average education completed by adults of 6.5 years. One wonders what could lead to such a dismal situation and persons much more knowledgeable than me have studied and written much about poverty in places such as Zambia with no consensus on the causes.
In speaking with Vincent Luwizhi this weekend during his visit to Virginia, I got a better sense of some of the factors in play. While he has stories of progress and hope, he is also constantly combating fear, lack of education and basic job skills, and pervasive mistrust by persons accustomed to a life full of broken promises, where corruption and treachery are an expected part of the culture.
These are problems that go deeper than their outward manifestations, problems that beg for a redemptive solution that can change people and communities from the inside out. But this does not negate the need for the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, and shelter.
So what can we do in such a situation? Vincent told us about a 19 year old single mother of two who now was taking care of her deceased sister’s two children as well and how she has changed from being dour and overwhelmed to hopeful because of persistence in kindness and love directed towards her. I am reminded of the quote from Mother Teresa, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” If we really want to make a difference, it is going to take many of us doing many small things with great love.