"The body was put in a plastic bag" by Ian M Fraser

Expecting a child was the best thing to ever happen to me, Christian-wise. While stories like the one I'm citing below used to upset me before, I now positively can't bear them.

It might be linked to the low blood sugar in the morning. It makes me wake up every day with a ravenous hunger which I am fortunate to be able to alleviate by walking down to the kitchen. Before, I never even felt hunger except as a mild annoyance which I could ignore for half a day if I wanted. I once did a good job of keeping Ramadan with a friend for a little while and found it quite easy. Now it often feels like I'm going to pass out if I don't eat some carbs quickly. I am so pathetically thankful for a sweetened cup of tea, especially because, as an added bonus, it makes the baby kick!

Also, it's incredible how protective I feel towards the little creature in my belly. I can't imagine what it must be like to be unable to feed your child or to provide them with essential medicines. Just the thought of it evokes a raw, incredibly powerful anger. So I'm fully in line with all the feminist theologians who conceive of the Wrath of God as something akin to the rage of a mother bear whose cubs are being threatened (by reference to Hosea 13:8). It is scary as all f*** and you don't want to be in its path.

So on with the account by Ian Fraser. It dates back to 1982 and in a way I hope to God that this sort of thing isn't going on so much anymore as a result of international scrutiny, but I wouldn't put it past public authorities even now.

"In 1982, Margaret accompanied me to the Philipines. It was her first visit. We saw one of the effects of holding the South East Asian Games in that country at that time. We were in an area which was deemed to be an eyesore by the authorities. It would disgrace the country if competitors from many nations saw it. So although the tenants had a legal right to their property and could not be faulted on payments of dues, bulldozers were sent in and their shacks demolished.

Residents were dumped on the outskirts of Manila, including a husband, wife and five children. They had no resources, no work was to be found. They drifted back. The husband, worn out by malnutrition and worry coughed up his lifeblood. There was no money to bury him. The body was put in a plastic bag and lay around for two weeks. Neighours at last sacrificially raised enough to secure his burial.

The neighbours then built a lean-to against a wall and covered the framework with plastic (from the bag used for the body) to provide minimal accommodation for the widow and children. Its total extent was about 10' by 4'. A low platform kept the family off the mud and had to serve for beds. Five plastic bags acted as wardrobes for the chidren clothes. That had to be home."

Extract out of This Isthe Day. Readings and meditations from the Iona Community. Month 2, day 2.