Choice is an every day part of Western society. We all enjoy the ease with which we can choose whatever we desire. We switch on the TV and choose one of many programmes.
We choose the latest fashion, we choose food from any country in the
world any night we want. We're fortunate enough to have to care very
little about how we get what we choose and what the environmental, and
humanitarian costs are.
Unfortunately capitalism is both the
cause and the result of our satisfaction of whimsical desires and, as my
wise father says about all things that seem too good to be true, It is.
Somebody somewhere is paying for our luxurious living.
Perhaps
none more so than the people of Bhopal, India, who's lives have been
blighted since December 1984, on a night when thousands of people died
and thousands more continue to suffer as a result of a chemical leak
from the plant of a large American corporation, Union Carbide.
Not only did UC show total disregard for the people of Bhopal with their cost cutting lack of safety measures in the plant, which produced one of the worlds deadliest chemicals, they subsequently refused to accept responsibility for the leak, and have thus far refused to clean up the toxic site that is left behind.
The people worst affected by the chemical leak are largely working class people who live in slum dwellings and
don't have our luxury of choice. They didn't choose to have a corporate
company produce its pesticides there, they didn't choose to end up
dying, sick and disabled. They didn't choose to have to drink
contaminated water or live in an area that is saturated in toxic
substances because they have no money to go elsewhere.
In
December I am going to go to Bhopal to volunteer at a clinic called
Sambhavna which means 'possibility'. The organisation tirelessly works
to provide relief and treatment from the horrendous conditions and
symptoms the people of Bhopal have been left with, using a combination
of conventional medicine, community development, yoga and ayurvedic
medicine while providing a safe and contaminant free environment for
people to receive the help they desperately need. Check out the clinic
at http://bhopal.org I'm not sure exactly what I'll do there yet, but my
hope is to spend at least 6 months there, and become involved in the
training and development of community health workers in order to help
people to help themselves, and perhaps do some research into the
continuing health problems in Bhopal.
Sambhavna, and its wider
campaign, the Bhopal Medical Appeal doesn't accept funding from
corporations, for obvious reasons, and so they really need OUR help.
So
lets do something to acknowledge that our ability to live abundantly,
some may even say excessively, comes at a cost to many people the world
over, and give a little back to those who don't have a choice. Any donations are greatly appreciated by both myself and the Bhopal Medical Appeal.
