By Carol Amaratunga
Forty-five years ago, as a student, I had the incomparable privilege of being accepted as a volunteer with Operation Crossroads Africa. In the summer of 1969 I was sent to the remote village of Bendaja, Liberia to help build a rural health clinic.
I have a vivid, startling memory from that summer of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, an event that is no doubt seared into the minds of those of us who are a bit older. As Neil Armstrong said, it was “a giant leap for mankind.” Seated around an open fire on that dark and cloudy evening, my Crossroads team and the villagers of Bendaja glanced up to the heavens as we listened to the Apollo mission being broadcast by the Voice of America. When the broadcast ended, one of village elders turned to me and said, “It is just an American trick.” For my part however, I was both awe-struck and devastated. How could we spend millions of dollars to send men to the moon while down here, in the villages of Africa, people were sick, destitute and hungry?
You may wonder what this story has to do with women’s health. Bear with me for my memoire has everything to do with women’s health, humanitarianism, and the current Ebola crisis in Africa. The real question is: what can we do to help?
It was the rainy season and the women, children and families of Bendaja Village were essentially cut off from the rest of the world. The laterite roads were awash with a blood-red mud slurry and were impassable. There were no stores, no Loblaws or President’s Choice. It was a lucky hunter who could provision his family with wild meat. The night of the moon landing, the villagers brought us some of their valued hunt. It was a feast they shared with selfless generosity.