one US dollar...

have you ever wondered what one US dollar can get you? let's see... it's about S$1.70-S$1.80. with that amount, i could probably get my hands on 3 mcdonald's ice cream cones / 1 mcdonald's small fries / 2 copies of the straits times / 1 small gulp from 7-eleven / 1 can of soft drink / 7 local postage stamps / 1.5 old chang kee curry puffs / 1 felt-tip pen from popular / 2 bars of mentos / 4 bars of polo sweets / 1 loaf of bread / 6 digital photo prints / 10 minutes of call time on the mobile phone. i'm sure with everyone's differet experiences, you could definitely contribute to a longer list.

but honestly speaking, how many of the things mentioned above would bring you happiness and a wide smile on your face? i, for sure, know that 3 ice cream cones would have me going to the toilet and that ain't gonna make me smile!

sometimes we often diminish the value of a single dollar. it seems so insignificant to us. we have no qualms on spending a dollar of insignificant things. notice how people drop 5cents on the ground and are too lazy to look for it, they simply walk away and not bother about it. 20 5cents would make a dollar.

daddy was sharing with me an idea he and auntie vida discussed about few days ago. given the nature of the company he works for, daddy has associates in thailand, cambodia, vietnam, philippines, myanmar, laos and the like. his vietnamese associate was mentioning to him that US$1 can fetch him about 10 polo shirts in vietnam. wow! it's about US$0.10 per polo shirt. so daddy had this idea to gather a pool of donations and buy polo shirts for the poor. his vietnamese counterpart was willing to buy polo shirts in bulk and bring it to singapore and another filipino associate would bring it back to the philippines. it sounds like a great idea!

since auntie maureen is serving as a missionary in manila with a ministry for the street kids, the polo shirts would serve as christmas presents to these children and their families. i can vaguely imagine how happy these children would be when they receive a simple polo shirt. my heart goes out to these children. they live in cardboard houses that poses high risk to fire hazards and such. they live in slumps where the whole village is close in proximity and everyone is living in cardboard houses. all it takes is for one family to be a little less careful with their cooking stove and the whole village can be wiped out in a matter of 30 minutes. people would be burnt alive simply because of the carelessness of one family. what a scary thought!

i've always heard how these children live near the smoky mountain. and if the name "smoky mountain" does sound like an appealing scenic spot, think again! it's a name of a place where people dump their rubbish and over time, it is a mountain of trash (and smoky because they burnt the rubbish all the time). these poor people would climb up the "mountain" and they are scavengers for whatever is left in the heap of trash. if they could recover some recycleable material, they take it and sell it for measly cents. if they are fortunate enough to find food, they take it back to their families. with such living conditions, no wonder they look forward to the sunday sessions with auntie maureen and the metro ministries team who set up a mobile sunday school in the town. this gives them a chance to hear about Jesus, play games and perhaps win some goodies home. these goodies are none other than donations of leftover bread from some bakery, toiletries from some corporate sponsors, little bags of rice or toys from individual donations.

as i sit here in an aircon room, clicking my fingernails on my notebook and recalling the happy memories of the day, it's a heartwrenching thought to know that there are many people out there in the world who do live tough lives like that. who are we to complain that we do not have enough money? not enough things? not good food? many people i know around me are unhappy with their lives. but who are we to complain? there are many people who are just trying to live for the next day and are unsure whether they would be able to do so, yet we sit here and complain about many things in our lives. such thoughts just spur me on as i look forward to the mission trip in december. then i would truly see with my own eyes what i have always heard of, and yet unable to truly appreciate what i have here today.

for those who simply have the heart to drop a few dollars, do let me know. i will not be collecting any money as yet till i get more details from my dad. but it won't be so soon. planning and stuff has to be done beforehand. but it's gonna be around christmas time.

till then, let us appreciate what we are so richly blessed with. who else could have given us so much but God Himself, for He was gracious enough to give us this life we are living. (and we know He has the power to control the lightning bolts as well!)