Smile

In the midst of the firestorm that is going on right now...I felt I needed a bit of writing therapy to clear my head.

This morning, I scrolled through my internet feeds and read an unending stream of fear, disbelief, and panic.

MFW I woke up this morning

At first, my brain didn't know how to process this. I kept trying to convince myself there is still some contingency, some chance that someone will pop out with a camera and tell us this whole election was all just a big prank!

After a few minutes of this...I was starting to get to this point:

When I finally got up to eat a cookie, I had a realization. The challenges facing the US right now are substantial, but they are NOTHING compared to the challenges faced by every single person living in rural sub-Saharan Africa every day.

If I had grown up in rural Benin:

Many of my ancestors would have been sold to slavers and taken to the Americas.
The year I was born, protests sparked a change in the democratic process, leading to the first multi-party elections.
I had a 1 in 10 chance of dying before the age of 5.
I likely wouldn't have had a safe source of drinking water.
My community would have open sewers, if sewers at all.
I had a 50/50 chance of being orphaned.
I had a 50/50 chance of being used for child labour.
7 in 10 girls my age are illiterate.
I would earn ~$1.25 USD a day.
I would have a 1 in 53 chance of dying in childbirth during my lifetime.
I would have a mobile phone, but no access to the internet.
My country remains one of the world's poorest countries.
Although my government is relatively stable, it is rife with corruption.
My taxes are likely collected by men with rifles.

So before we get to this point:

...whatever your political opinions, let's just try to get past this turmoil as quickly as possible and get  back to doing everything we can to change the shape of things to come.

You can't fight fire with fire.

And in the mean time, if you need some cheering up, watch this.

Stats courtesy of UNICEF