The Burden

One of the benefits, and at the same time, struggles about living overseas, is the increased awareness and exposure to human suffering and injustices around the world.   While I’ve never considered myself someone who keeps up with the news religiously, I have always checked in with the nightly news, glanced over the local papers, and checked out links and references through Facebook that people share.  So, I considered myself “informed”.

               

Boy, was I wrong.  And it makes me now realize how uninformed the majority of US is.   In comparison to what I see here in the newspapers and through Al Jazeera and BBC, it borders on ridiculous of how much is not reported in US news. 

               

 But as I mentioned in the first line, it’s a benefit and a struggle at the same time.

The benefit is that I am much more aware of the reality of the world, other countries, and the privilege we (as a generality about the US) have.  I am full aware that terrible things happen in the US too and there are struggles for many Americans.  It’s terrible, it is.  But the sheer amount of pain and suffering experienced by all the other countries in the world is way above what the US experiences.  If you are familiar with the joke about “first world problems”, this drives home the point how ridiculous those problems are. 

While the average American worries about their trivial “needs” and “worries” (and this discounts the real serious injustices and struggles that some Americans face), Muslims in North India and Africa are living in make-shift tent cities while being persecuted by Hindus and Christians.  Children are dying in Syrian camps daily due to the civil unrest.  Workers die in factory collapses and fires in Bangladesh making the cheap clothes we so desire in America.  People are poisoned drinking and fishing in water polluted by chemical dumps from factories in developing countries.  People are slaughtered in South Sudan.  Thousands are being affected by climate change from 1st world countries carbon footprint.  And on and on.  This is what I see reported daily in the papers and news here, as well as through Al Jazeera and BBC.

                

As a benefit, this exposure has dramatically shifted how I view my life, my hardships, and that of my family, as well of the hardships in the US.  It has made me ten-fold more grateful for what I have and “need”.  It has given me a healthy sense of guilt whenever I complain or sulk about my life problems.  And I am glad I can expose my children to that when they grow up, and keep them worldly, aware citizens.  It has also made me much more conscientious about what I buy.  If it says “Made in Bangladesh”, I have to think long and hard about it.  Unfortunately, that tag dominates the stores here.  It makes me ever more grateful for my safety, my access to food and water, and my access to health care.

The struggle?  Knowing.  Knowing the pain and suffering.   Imagining the hurt, sadness, and hopelessness these people feel and experience.   Imagining how I would feel if it was me, especially when it involves mothers and children.  Knowing that I can’t do anything to help most of these things going on.   Knowing that I will mostly likely never experience anything like millions of people around the world experience simply because of where I was born, the luck of the draw, and the privilege I was born in to by no ones fault.  And knowing that my way of life contributes to some of this pain, even when I try to be careful.  One cannot deny that when they buy a cell phone or other electronic device, they are contributing to the conflicts worldwide over the metals used and the human lives lost trying to mine them.

                 

The struggle is also extreme frustration with America.   Sometimes it makes me so frustrated to know that most Americans have no clue what is going on.  It’s not totally their fault.   How can you be aware when it’s not reported to you?  But on the other hand, it’s out there and accessible if one chooses to find it.  It’s a choice to expand your bubble of knowledge, or to not.   I know a lot of Americans think Al Jazeera is evil because they associate it with the Middle East and terrorism, but it’s the best news out there!  It reports on all areas of the world and posts news stories for what they are.  Not biased, not padded and fluffed.  Just news .  And when you actually read news like that, not only do you know what is going on, but you realize that your view of the world and other races/ethnicities might be wrong.  

                

 So where do I go from here?  Not back, that is for sure.  You can’t un-know things.  And do I want to un-know them?  Sometimes yes, but most of the time, I know it’s for the better.   It might cause me more anxiety, more sadness, and more stress, but at least I know how I should change my life, my mindset, and the things I do.

                 

What I can do is share what I know.  Try to make people more aware.  Do my best to not force it upon them, even though I want to.  There are times I am ready to shake people back home for their chosen ignorance and refusal to acknowledge the reality of the world.  I also want to shake them when they complain about ridiculous first world problems.  But I’ll do my best to restrain.  To be calm, and to share, and to hope, just hope, people will listen.   And maybe, just maybe, my life will be an example to others.  Maybe, just maybe.