As a Melbournite, I got to hear a great deal about the efforts to help the conjoined twins, Trishna, and Krishna, who were brought here by a very caring lady who hoped to see them receive medical treatment not available in their country of birth, Bangla Desh, where their chance of survival was very slim.
Quote:Hugo Gold is the head of the RCH ethics committee. It is his job to help decide whether saying no is actually the right thing to do.
"There's always that crunch question: What would you do if they were your twins? That's unfair . . . I've got five children."
His ethics committee members face a decision they've never made before and may never have to make again.
If they decide to try to separate the girls, the outcome will be uncertain at best. So what is in the best interests of the children? It's an operation medicos describe as being in the discretionary range.
"So if it was discretionary, whose discretion was it? They have guardians, one Catholic, one Muslim and the biological parents were Hindu," Dr Gold explains.
Then they worry about how long it will all take.
A condition of their visa is that they can be cared for at the RCH without depriving Australians of the opportunity to be treated.
In the end, it comes down to this. No matter what the visa says, Victoria has an obligation to try to help Trishna and Krishna.
One million dollars, $2 million. The decision is clear - we will have a go no matter what the cost.
That quote is from
Krishna and Trishna: The untold story
* RUTH LAMPERD and GRANT McCARTHUR,http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/krishna-and-trishna-the-untold-story/story-e6...Now of course everyone is absolutely overjoyed that everything has gone so well for these little girls, but the questions that concern me are those concerning how we choose who to help, and who not to.
The money spent saving these girls could have fed and provided healthcare for hundreds, possibly thousands, of other kids in Bangla Desh, or any other Third World country for that matter, but we never heard their names, or saw their pictures.
These lucky conjoined twins got to Australia through the extraordinary efforts of Moira Kelly, who has dedicated her life to helping the sick and the needy in all parts of the world, and as someone who has seen more suffering than most people could imagine, she was especially moved by the plight of these conjoined twins.
It would be unfair to be unkind, or negative about someone as caring, and giving as Moira Kelly, but I cannot help but wonder what emotions drive a person to make the choices she did.
She may have considered the fact that so many children suffer and die from lack of proper care, all around the world, every day, and knew that despite the herculean efforts of people like herself, the fact is that the first world just does not care enough to do anything much about it, but if she could get these kids to Australia, if she could get them enough publicity, she could make people care enough to save them, and that is an example we could all take heed of.
I cannot help but consider that if we had had the choice of just spending a large amount of pre-allocated money, then aid would have been spread around that would have helped lots of needy children, but these girls would have died, and we would never have known they even existed, but that was not the case here.
When people heard of their plight, so many people showed that they did care about others in need, and offered help in many ways.
It makes me a bit ashamed that I do so little to help the poor people of the world.
I guess I am a lot like so very may others, who do not have to try too hard to forget the millions who are suffering, and dying.
So while we all can talk about what is the wisest, most effective way to spend our Aid dollars, Moira Kelly is living the example of the little hummingbird who drops his single drops of water on the forest fire, while all the other animals stand around discussing how to fight it, or even if it is worth trying, and replies to their mocking of his efforts by replying, "I am doing what I can."
I think the world needs more Hummingbirds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHtFM1XEXas