This year, World Aids Day was December 1, 2009. According to the World Health Organization, 33 million people are infected with HIV. With the success of some prevention programs, new HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past 8 years.
This year, there were twice as many bicycles produced than cars.
There are over a billion undernourished people in the world right now.
There are more than 340,000 obese people in the world right now.
There are over a billion people with no access to safe drinking water.
Over 15,000 people died of hunger today.
World statistics surprise. Facts are gross and haunting. They're just numbers until you get out there with open eyes and hearts. A dear friend of mine is working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia. He's written about and shared with me stories of the darkness that the people he lives with have seen in the recent decades. War. Poverty. Murder. Disease. Children are sold into brothels so as to support other members of the families.
The atrocities in which people live go on and on and on. We know this. Mentioning them is not to depress. It's to remind us to be mindful... mindful of the many conveniences. We are the 'haves'. This, too, we know. Back to my present life's moment.
Woke around 7:30 to begin my morning with a walk up the nearby 'baby' mountain (or, ginourmous hill, if you will) Sarabong. The air here is almost as lovely as Monterey's, but not quite as perfect. Gorgeous views of the city and sea. Descended the hill on the far side, which is a switchback walkway laid with reddish octagonal bricks, lined with trees and large, tropical flowers. I only saw three other people, yet on a clear day I would have likely seen no less than a dozen. Continued on to explore the next hill, which seemed almost as steep, perhaps not as high. I'd never been up this one before. The path down its far side was even steeper. At the path's early descent the view of the sea was so amazing, I had to pause. It's the thing, it's the outside that can simultaneously take me away and bring me back. The wonder of that nature, seeing the sea's horizon in the distance, with no land in sight. Heavy, grey, distant clouds lowering to a hazy whitish line over the deep, far, blue-grey ocean. Ships here and there, and the water hitting the black rocks of the coast. Continuing on, the path leveled out and branched out through an area wooded with pines. Trees and fallen leaves, being wet, appeared even more vibrant. After about 15 minutes down, I emerged to a road near a parking lot behind a huge, blue-metal-roofed building. No idea where I was, but the direction back was obvious, so I followed the roads around 'til I reached a recognized, main road.
This is my life here, I can take this walk any morning, and I'm grateful. Living in a gorgeous location, doing easy, enjoyable work. No wants, no complaints. Decent, likable, friendly, great company. No car needed. Just feet, a bike, and convenient, cheap public transportation.
The heavy clouds constantly change the sky, the sun occasionally peeks out. One of those days that welcomes the dark, moving cover. It's the dark, moving cover that can keep me mindful of the darkness. The darkness that looms in the lives of so many individuals, families, communities, and nations throughout the world. We can't save the world, but in the midst of our comfortable lives, we can remember it's there. And when we stop to wonder what we can do to lend a hand, to help... we must know that it starts from within, with the realization that we are one. We are all the same. As we go, may we continue on in life with the intentions... to think good thoughts, speak good words, and do good things.
... and appreciate the many facets of 'beauty'...
