Batteries to the Rescue!

Did you know that just one AA battery can save the lives of six children? Today I attended WE DAY at Rogers Arena with my leadership team. This is the third time I have had the privilege to attend this amazing day filled with motivational speakers and artists who are working to bring change to the world. Each year I leave there motivated and inspired. Today as I listened to the speakers, I thought about our class and the readings and began to think differently about the types of things we call a "health crisis" in Canada. Yes, there is much that needs to be improved and a lot of change we would like to see in terms of health care here in Canada but when you compare it to how the majority of the world is living - boy are we privileged, even those of us in the worst of circumstances. Although, I was aware of the many health issue which exist in impoverished countries due to obvious reasons like malnutrition and a lack of clean water, I was never aware before today about the value of zinc to our health. I was not aware how for granted we take the fact that we so easily acquire zinc through our diet. It disturbed me to learn today that 450,000 children under the age of five die each year due to zinc deficiency and that an estimated 800,000 people die each year due to zinc deficiency. And worldwide 2 billion people do not get enough zinc through their diet. This is why we were asked to bring our old batteries to WE DAY today; so that they could be used as medication for others around the world. Batteries which we use to make all our new "toys" work, are actually a form of medication for others around the world! I do believe that we should never settle and should demand the best of our government and ourselves; however, I don't think we have a right to complain or wine about our healthcare - at least we have a voice here in Canada.