A different perspective

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Originally uploaded by kirispupis

This photo was taken about a week ago near Petra, Jordan. We hired a guide to take us around and show us Little Petra, which is a smaller version of the gigantic Petra that was recently named one of the new seven wonders of the world.

My two kids, ages 3 and 4, had been asking us during the entire trip when they will have the chance to ride a donkey. While walking through the canyon, we noticed two kids riding a donkey and negotiated, for a small fee, a ride on the donkey.

During our trip, our kids had received a few small blisters and scratches. We purchased some Ratatouille band aids at a pharmacy and they absolutely loved them, with my younger one having several up and down his arms (the tiniest scratch required a band aid).

While riding the donkey, one of the kids pointed at the band aids and asked my wife - what's this? It was evident he had never seen one in his life. Before answering the question, my wife looked at his hand (see the left hand in the picture). It was extremely badly burned and it appears that his thumb will be dysfunctional for life. She asked him what happened to his hand.

"I wanted tea, but it was hot", he responded.

Our assumption is they were boiling tea over the fire and he must have somehow burned himself with the hot coals. (just hot tea itself would not cause that type of burn) I suspect that over here he would have received proper medical attention and with treatment, his hand would eventually return to normal.

However such medical facilities were obviously not available to him. He didn't seem to mind very much - it was just a fact of life. So to receive a band aid for a tiny injury that doesn't even hurt much must have seemed inconceivable to him.

After visiting little Petra, we got in our car and headed home. On the way we passed the two boys riding their donkey on a long trip home. Our kids waved at them, unaware of how far away they truly were.