You have all seen the emails that go around about how we should be grateful for this and that, showing pictures of people who don’t have the privileged life we have. Well, an email is one thing, going into a third world country (sorry, it’s ‘developing’ now isn’t’ it…) and seeing first hand how they live their lives and how the poverty cycle is so entrenched is another.

Today I’d like to share a few experiences and a few reasons we have to be truly grateful!

There, the water is polluted and filthy, rubbish is generally dumped in the river or burnt, leaving the water undrinkable. The trouble is this introduces tonnes of plastic bottles into the country that are used only once and then thrown out (or burnt) which in turn escalates the problem.

Here, we simply walk into our kitchen, turn on the tap, and hey presto, fresh, clean drinking water.

There, the country’s people are completely in charge, the government simply does what the people want otherwise there are bundas, that’s a strike in English. If someone is sacked, or a group feels an injustice has been done, the people strike. They close roads, schools, essentially just shut the country down until the government gives in and they get their way… again.

Here, strikes are used only when absolutely necessary and to make a point. There is now legislation in place as to how ‘disruptive’ a strike can be.

There, when you want to go to the store and get something, it may well be a 10km walk, and then you will need to carry everything you need to feed your family for the next month on your back, 10km home again. Or worse, you have to wait for the donkeys to come back through your village with your order of goods. When you’re hungry, you need to get the vegies from the yard, perhaps milk the cow or goat, make the naan and get some wood for the fire. In a few hours you have a meal, generally the same meal you’ve had every day of your life for lunch and dinner.

Here, we jump in the car without a thought, grab the groceries, wheel them to the car in a trolley, then drive home again. When we want to prepare a meal, we simply open a few packets, get the vegies out of the fridge, turn on the oven and in half an hour or so we eat.

There, the government organisations are disorganised, uninterested, and not held accountable. We walked into the Immigration Department to fix up the ‘big problem’ with our visas (the fact that we didn’t have any and our passports weren’t stamped, despite paying our money and them having our passports behind their counter, as were everyone else’s) and there was no organisation, not even any way to identify who was working there and who were customers. No uniforms, no structure, all in all it was complete chaos and pretty scary.

Here, we have government departments for everything. Sure, sometimes we have to wait and it’s a headache but in reality our government keeps our roads clean and operable, we have parks and gardens, an education system, garbage collection, health care, and employment if we so choose. Next time you are complaining about how bureaucratic Australia has become, think about the disorganised chaos that reigns in many third world countries, and the many advantages we reap do to the ‘heightened organisation’.

There, when you are privileged enough to be educated, to grow up in a home rather than a shack, and have food, clean water and medical treatment available, once you are educated, you leave the country in search of a better life. You move to a country where opportunities come freely and poverty isn’t waiting each morning on your front door step to greet you. Then you make a new life for yourself in that country, taking any skill, talent or ambition right out of Nepal every time! Very few return to Nepal; rather, they send a small amount of money to relatives who haven’t been so lucky to escape

Here, we are all privileged, we all have homes, we all have food, we all have clean water to drink, an education system and free health care! We all grow up in this privileged environment and we can then choose to travel and experience the poverty, disorganisation and culture of other countries, but ultimately we return home, to Australia, to the land of milk and honey! We bring our skills, knowledge and new experiences back to Australia to essentially help make it a better country!

Everything we have here in Australia is a privilege, we certainly are the lucky Country, and every day I think of all the things we have to be thankful for and my heart swells with gratitude!

Travel puts an end to bigotry and prejudice!

If you’re really ready to step up and start living life and need a little assistance to get started, please give me a call on 0409 224 303 for a complimentary coaching session and we can work on it together.