Some Thoughts on Poverty

Yesterday I traveled up to Ervanoor to speak with a group of women who chose to sell their kidneys to brokers. It occurred to me that even after living in India off and on since 1998 that I can still barely grapple with understanding the lenghts that extreme poverty can drive people to.

I will save the salient details for an article I am working on. But I would like to raise a question for my readers.

What would you do if you became a mother at the age of 13 and 13 years later your daughter began having children? How would you respond when your daughter attempts to commit suicide by taking rat poison because her in-laws were harassing her for dowry she couldn't afford? When your daughter had medical bills she couldn't pay and the hospital threatened to kick her out on the street how far would you go? Would you sell a kidney to help her? How would you feel if after the procedure the broker you contacted absconded with most of the money she promised you?