The District Magazine Vol. 2 Issue 5, Winter 2017-18 | Page 8

Humility is
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T A
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Priceless
By Melanie Hicks PhD.
At its best, the holiday season is a time of family, friends and relaxation. For
many of us it is also a time of reflection, gratitude and intention setting. What
have we done over the last year to make our world or our community a better
place? What can we do better next year?
I spent the last week doing service work in a
small community outside of Managua, Nicaragua.
The poverty of this country is beyond what most
Americans can imagine. More than 2/3rds of the
country live without toilets or indoor plumbing
of any kind, 1 in 4 children do not attend school
and more than 60% suffer from malnutrition. And
yet, it’s a country with extremely low violence and
crime. The people are family and in most cases faith
focused. They are happy to live simply and grateful
beyond recognition for assistance when it comes.
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Living in America it can be easy to look at other
nations with such great need and want to give of
our resources or even our time. My experience
is a prime example of this and I am proud and
happy for this opportunity. But what about the
need in our own backyard? Perhaps on the scale of
statistics we do not compare and yet on the more
important human scale each life deserves better
understanding and dignity.
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