The kardashians and the slums

I got really sick this week. I usually don't get sick in India, but when I do, I make up for lost time and get really sick. It started with a stomachache, "intestinal disturbances" (I won't say more about that), and then a bone aching fever. I didn't sleep at all that night and had to spend the entire day in my hotel room the next day. As I writhed around in pain I was looking for some sort of distraction to take my mind off how miserable I was.

I turned on the hotel TV and flipped through the channels looking for anything in English. The station landed on a show called "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". It was either that show or fishing on the discovery channel so I stayed with the Kardashians. As I watched this family of young women manage their clothing store and pay someone to take their father out shopping to revamp his wardrobe, I couldn't help but think of the stark contrast to their lifestyle and that of the people I had just spent days with in the slums. I mean no disrespect to the Kardashians - but the massive amounts of money that was spent on seemingly unnecessary things could have gone to such great use here in India.

The families I have just spent the last week with struggle to eat food a couple times a day. Most only have a few changes of clothes -- some don't have any. Their houses are not much more than a reinforced tent. In fact, on Friday I got caught in a rain storm (and by that I mean torrential downpour) on the opposite side of the slum from the medical camp. So I took refuge in one young man's "home". It was 4' x 8' -- yes four feet by eight feet. Just long enough for his wood shelf that he uses for a bed to fit across the entire length. His house was actually an outhouse that he claimed for himself. He cleaned it up and spent quite some time trying to get the smell out -- and now he lives there. He is very happy to have a home -- and it did a fine job of keeping the rain out.

I'm not sure the Kardashians would understand how much good to be done in this slum with the money spent on their fathers' new wardrobe. I wonder about all the ways I carelessly spend money not considering all the good it could accomplish. As we started the day off today summarizing our experiences so far, J'Nai chimed in saying at home she used to say she has nothing. Now she really understands what nothing is. She is going to start saying a new phrase "I have enough".

Enough -- what is enough? Is having three meals enough? One or two outfits to wear? A home big enough to fit a bed? We all have enough -- but when does it become too much? Our team is considering how simplifying our own lives could help bring life to others. What do you think?