Star Fishes

Prior to coming out here to Jinja, like any other trainee on their first volunteering mission abroad. I was full of doubts, hopes, worries and more worries. At the pre- assignment training my fear was ever so glaring on my face that it prompted a pet talk from Global links Manager about my options at which point the popular story about the young man throwing in the starfishes was discussed.  After 5 months in Jinja this story continues to hold true.

Here is a reminder of the story… Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. 

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)

I present to you some of my starfishes-

 M & M! These twins were born at 27 weeks gestation; they weighed 700grams and 800 grams.  All we could do was give them antibiotics keep them warm via KMC and use our homemade CPAP.  5 months on they are both 2.8 kg and 3.1 kg respectively. 

Baby N- brought to hospital with severe pneumonia from an orphanage by a kind lady.  Needed oxygen for a few days and is now a picture of health.

Baby S- Admitted with severe malnutrition in shock, and tuberculosis. Now gained a lot of weight (maybe too much!)

It thus make a difference to that one starfish thrown back in the ocean.