Safety

I'm in Enugu, Nigeria on a medical volunteer trip with Novick Cardiac Alliance. We are nearly finished with the trip. The most poignant conversation I've had occurred during my second night of work here.

One of the local nurses, Chi-Chi, was talking about the violence in northern Nigeria. She has family there, and now only sees them when they visit her here in southern Nigeria. Chi-Chi explained that now people are afraid to go to the north and avoid it unless absolutely necessary. She asked, "how can anyone, anywhere be productive at work or present in your life and with your family if you're worried about your security? We just want to feel safe."

I look forward to a world in which we want the most basic human rights, like safety, for each other; not the current world in which we use voilence and fear tactics to isolate ourselves from "others" and create a false sense of security. 

I'm no international affairs expert. I have no grandiose solutions about international conflict, nor do I think simply wanting everyone to feel safe will solve the problem. But it is a good place to start.