Our St Peter's Parish recently started a health committee: members of
the parish who work in the health professions got together to
deliberate what to do to assist sick people, prevent diseases from
spreading, especially cholera and HIV/AIDS, etc. Water purifying
tablets are already being distributed. Water, however, can be purified
and disinfected even without such tablets (1 tablet for 1 litre): fill
a plastic bottle with water and leave it for six hours in the sun, and
all harmfal bacteria will have been killed.
There is need to waken
people out of their lethargy so they start doing things for themselves
that the city authorities are not yet able to do, like removing waste
and garbage. Some men and women in bright red smocks have appeared on
the streets to sweep and remove rubbish. That is welcome. But it is
only a modest beginning. People themselves must do something, like
taking rotting vegetables and burying them. Plastic and bottles and
tins can be separated and sold to garbage collectors. Some people are
doing that already to get a little income that way: it should be done
in a big way as way of cleaning our streets.
Some nurses have
volunteered to give some hours every day to the sick and advise them
about what to do, where to go, how to find help.
These are only very little steps. But it is better than just sitting there doing nothing. –
Oskar Wermter SJ
Post published in: Analysis