Kevin

After an ordinary day of changing pampers, wiping noses and attempting to divide my attention evenly among the 25 toddlers I walked past the isolation room. Usually the sights in there are pretty bad. Pre-mature babies, malnourished children all struggling to survive. But this time it was worse. I don't know why the sight of a real starving child struck me so much considering those pictures are advertised and circulated on the media so frequently. This however, was a gamer changer. 

Everything from the way his eyes rolled backwards from lack of strength to his hallow cheeks hit me hard. I watched as he tried to lift his hand to scratch an itch on his neck - that could fit inside the hole made with your index finger and thumb. I can't tell if I was disturbed in regards to how skinny and neglected he looked, or that someone had done this to him. I admit I instantly felt furious and despondent that their are such cruel people on this earth. But after hearing such a remarkable talk by Jeffrey R. Holland in this previous General Conference, I considered the mother/father of this little spirit. Perhaps they too had hallow cheeks and rib-shown stomachs. Perhaps Kevin's mom was holding on as long as she could, starving herself to keep her baby, but finally realized it was an act of cruelty and made the toughest decision to drop him at the gate of the orphanage. You just never know the stories you'll come across here. That's why you have to keep an open mind and not judge people on first impressions. I'm so grateful I saw little Kevin on arrival. It has certainly left an imprint on my heart and a memory in my mind. 
I think we can all try a little harder to make this world a better place. We enjoy the affluence of life in such a leisure loving world. But just pause for a moment and think about others who aren't as fortunate as you. I'm not referring strictly to the children of Uganda, but more the people that cross our paths that we have the ability to help, and yet we don't. Serving is a gift not only to others, but to yourself. Make time for some meaningful service this week. I promise you it'll pay off. 
And if you're thinking, "What good is this little act of service?" you need to listen/read this incredible talk. 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/are-we-not-all-beggars?lang=eng

(And on a small side note...)
12.1% of children aged 2-5 are overweight. 16% of children under 5 are underweight in Uganda. Somethings wrong with this picture.