C.A.K.E.

Children in the market of Namitondo

Most of us read these outlandish numbers [about injustice: poverty and hunger] while sipping our four-dollar lattes.
Often crises cause us to respond monetarily,
but then we move on with our lives.
Solving injustice isn't about throwing money at a problem.
It's about fixing the root of the problem.
As Christians, we have an obligation and responsibility
 to answer the clarion call of injustice not just with our cash but also with our very lives.
[...] [Christians should be] a people moved to solving the systemic problems behind the injustice of the world [...]

Darren Whitehead & Jon Tyson, Rumors of God

C.A.K.E.

This past semester I took an Integumentary (a.k.a. wound, burn, and skin care & management)course. This was a whole new world of physical therapy for me. I never knew that wound debridement and the like fell into the realm of physical therapy practice, and I found it disgusting. To help our class remember important facts my professor made up funny sayings or acronyms to assist our memory. For example: to remember the essential vitamins for wound healing, we were told to eat our C.A.K.E. (vitamin C, A, K & E). 

I remember sitting in Empresso, the local coffee shop in Stockton, sipping on my caramella latte, studying for an Integumentary test. A couple of guys I knew from church entered the coffee shop. Engaging in some small talk, one of the guys asked what I was studying. I showed him the pictures on my powerpoint and proceeded to express my opinions about wound care in PT practice. I told him it was gross and that I would never do wound care, but had to learn about it for licensing reasons. We laughed. He agreed that the pictures were nasty and he left so I could study.

In retrospect I am extremely embarassed by this interaction. My opinions about wound care and PT's involvement with wound care were based upon an ignorance. Though I had studied about C.A.K.E. and the importance of nutrition for wound healing, I had no personal context to apply this knowledge. I had no anchor to provide meaning and so I made harsh and immature comments based on a lack of knowledge.

In Malawi I personally experienced the detrimental effects of malnutrition. I saw children who had not had their C.A.K.E. suffering from wounds which were unable to heal due to a lack of nutrients. I witnessed mothers losing children to hunger due to a lack of resources and a lack of education. I observed Kwashiorkor (severe malnutrition due to a dietary protein deficiency) rob a mother of her child. These experiences personalized malnutrition. They educated me about the importance of Integumentary care in physical therapy. They made me want to fight the injustice of hunger.

Hunger is a wicked problem in Malawi. There are many factors that contribute to this epidemic. It's a detrimental cycle of a lack of resources and a lack of education. I know that I cannot resolve hunger in Malawi on my own. I know that I cannot expect everyone to have the same reactions I have to the words "starvation," "malnutrition," or "hunger." I cannot expect these things because just a month ago I had no concept of hunger and malnutrition. It was not until I witnessed it that I began to understand it's wrath.

Yet, what I do know is that Jesus loves the hungry. I know that he calls his people, his body of Christ, to pray and to fight the injustice of hunger. I know that he wants us to educate ourselves about the injustices in the world and to find tangible ways to fight them, whether big or small. So, if you feel led, please join with me in praying for the hungry in Malawi and all over the world. Pray that Jesus will be the sustainence of the hungry. Pray that he reveals how we can battle the injustice of hunger with not only our cash, but with our lives.

God: the maker of heaven and earth, the sea,

and all that is in them,

God: who is faithful forever, 

who gives justice to people who are oppressed,

who gives bread to people who are starving!

The LORD: who frees prisoners.

The LORD: who makes the blind see.

The LORD: who straightens those who are bent low.

The LORD: who loves the righteous.

The LORD: who protects immigrants,

who helps orphans and widows,

but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!

Psalm 146: 6-9