Deaf-Blind Triplets

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt within the heart."

-Helen Keller

Check out Reader's Digest's article and video about a set of deaf-blind triplets. It's amazing to think about what they experience on a daily basis and how one teaches them to discover the world. Intervenors are trained to work with children who are deaf-blind at George Brown College in Toronto. The program definitely interests me...

Wednesday-at-11... Horse Racing

Last week I attended possibly my first Wednesday-at-11 since my freshman year. Dr. Opacich presented on a topic that never crossed my mind before. What is life like for the employees at race tracks? What goes on behind the scenes?

Backstretch workers provide basic horse care and live on or near the facilities. Most are Mexicans who are undocumented or underdocumented. They are uninsured and ineligible for most programs. They have no kitchens, only microwaves due to the dangers. Their children's activities are restricted for their own safety. They move around to different tracks as the races move from place to place. Their health is compromised by the living conditions and restricted access to services. What poor quality of life--in the background of a wealthy industry. How many other businesses survive and thrive on the ill treatment of the dozens of workers who make it all possible?

Nope, not Amish. Not Mennonite, either.

I often get asked if I'm Amish. When I say no, people almost always guess Mennonite. A guy snapped a picture of some of my friends (the one above) and posted it on Flickr, thinking they were Amish, then Mennonite.Very few know about conservative Brethren, and even fewer people have heard of the River Brethren. When we had to look up a topic on Wikipedia to check the accuracy of something we're knowledgeable about, I was surprised to find an entry about me. Okay, so not exclusively about me, but about my family.


Do I mind being associated with the Amish and Mennonites? Not at all. We value many of the same things, biblical principles--simplicity, honesty, hard work, integrity, modesty,... Yet, I really appreciate my heritage and my congregation, despite its smaller numbers and less publicity. Maybe because of its smaller numbers and less publicity.


So what are River Brethren? We don't have TV. We don't divorce and remarry. We dress uniformly. We don't smoke. We don't drink excessively. We save sex for marriage. We avoid extravagance in cars, vacations, decorations, etc.

More importantly, we follow Christ. We take the Bible literally. Why do I wear this hat on my head? See I Corinthians 11. We practice nonresistance. We do not have a church building, emphasizing that the church is people, not a place. We support each other financially, spiritually, emotionally, and so on. Every Sunday the first part of our service is devoted to hearing from anyone who wants to share prayer requests, praises, and experiences. We are a tight-knit group, like a big family.

Plastic Surgery: Yay or Nay

In 2006, Americans had 11.5 million cosmetic surgeries, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The top surgical procedures included liposuction, breast augmentation and reduction, eyelid surgery, and abdominoplasty. Makemeheal.com shows pictures, suggesting dozens of celebrities received cosmetic surgeries or should. Why? What happened to our society? Why do we value appearance over character? It seems like once a person begins to get plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons, it would be difficult to stop. Many women could think of something they would like to change about nearly every part of their bodies. We spend thousands and millions of dollars, risking complications from the surgeries and even the nonsurgical procedures just to boost our confidence and become more accepted. Wouldn't it be better to become more accepting as a society instead of trying to achieve the perfect bodies?


People with Down Syndrome may never have "perfect bodies," but some parents decide to get closer to ideal for their children. A quote from a plastic surgeon from Dr. Len Leshin's site,

"It is a challenge for the aesthetic surgeon to make good-looking people more handsome. But it is even more rewarding to "normalize" people who are isolated because of their ugly facial expression so that they may be reintegrated into a group of friends from which they may have already anxiously withdrawn. Children with Down's syndrome are frequently concealed from the public by their parents. The children suffer from two disadvantages: Their mental abilities are limited and they have ugly facial features.(1)"

Dr. Leshin describes the surgeries and the some of the controversy. This video chronicles one family's choice to have their three-year-old boy with Down Syndrome altered through plastic surgery. It seems like in this situation the surgery will benefit the parents more than the child. People with Down Syndrome are often happy with their appearance, as the video shows through questioning them. It is unfortunate that people with Down Syndrome do not get to choose for themselves due to the necessity of surgery early in life.


In my opinion, plastic surgery should be reserved for medical reasons. At the very least, individuals need to make decisions about their own bodies. And, whether perfectly sculpted by God and/or doctors or imperfectly formed, we should appreciate each other!

Educational Opportunities for Afghan Women

Last week's edition of Time detailed some of the issues faced by girls and women in Afghanistan. Previously, education for females was outlawed, but a few schools operated in secret. Now over three thousand schools offer classes, but little else. Many are extremely primitive. The meager supplies and often poorly trained teachers do not promote significant progress for the females who are interested in education.

Some girls and women do not learn because of cultural reasons. Schools hire men, and the women do not want to interact with nonrelatives. Even as a member of a conservative culture, this is difficult for me to understand. Reading and writing are such an integral part of my life. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to become literate and to use these skills for communication, recreation,and growth.

Shameful Institutionalization of the Mentally Retarded

Where were the families of these people? Only a couple decades ago, people with mental retardation were institutionalized. Supervised by far too few staff, they sat around rocking back and forth. Some were naked. Some were restrained. The stench was overwhelming. All who could not feed themselves were given white mush as fast as possible. Disgusting. No human deserves this type of treatment.

We watched part of this video in class so history does not repeat itself. I hope this part never does.