World Vision Magazine // Blog

When seeking justice for the sexually abused, we could all use a “Popeye” moment.

Young girls sell sex in Cambodia. (Sopheak Kong/WV)

One of my eccentric hobbies is discovering theological insights from animated cartoons. A favorite is “Road Runner.” The dastardly coyote is always devising ever more fantastic means to capture the elusive bird, but his wicked schemes invariably and hilariously backfire, causing maximum pain and humiliation for the coyote.

“Road Runner” reminds me of the story of Mordecai and Haman in the biblical book of Esther. You’ll remember that Haman goes to elaborate lengths to secure the demise of Mordecai. He is so sure that he is about to achieve this end that he constructs a gallows in preparation for Mordecai’s hanging. Alas, it goes horribly wrong, and it’s Haman who ends up swinging from the noose.

I got another cartoon insight last week when an old colleague from New Zealand unexpectedly turned up at the Federal Way office to give a talk on child sexual exploitation in Cambodia for Women of Vision. Sue Hanna used to work as a fundraiser for World Vision in New Zealand. She was good at her job and dedicated to the cause. But something happened that persuaded her to go deeper. She had what she calls her “Popeye” moment—an idea she got from pastor and author Bill Hybels.

I’m not too familiar with Popeye, but apparently the inarticulate, weedy-looking sailor becomes transformed when somebody messes with the love of his life. Then, Popeye downs a can of spinach and is transformed into a titan, whereupon he saves Olive Oyl and—I gather—more or less goes on to save the rest of the world.

Which brings me to the serious bit. Sue’s “Popeye” moment had occurred on a visit to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, when she met 16-year-old Sokha. Sokha had been sold into a brothel at age 11 by her mother. At the brothel she then contracted HIV. Eventually, she became too sick to work, and the brothel owner kicked her out. With few options, Sokha decided to return to her hometown and reconnect with her mother.

When she arrived, neighbors told Sokha that her mother had remarried and disappeared. Sokha returned to the streets of Phnom Penh, where she was eventually found by World Vision and accepted into the organization’s trauma-recovery center—a residential program for sexually abused girls. Sadly, she was only there for about a month before she had to be transferred to a nearby hospital because she was so sick.

Sue at Sokha's bedside.

When Sue Hanna met her, Sokha was dying. Sue and another friend prayed for the 16-year-old to be released from pain and find peace.

Two days later, Sue was handed an envelope that had been left at the reception desk of her hotel. It contained a photograph of Sue and her friend at Sokha’s bedside (the picture shown here). On the back of the envelope was scrawled the message that Sokha had passed away the previous night. Their prayers had been answered.

Meeting Sokha changed Sue’s life. She resigned her fundraising job and moved permanently to Phnom Penh, where she manages shelters for exploited girls and boys for Hagar International—an organization that partners closely with World Vision in Cambodia to rescue children from sexual slavery. Sue says she’s used the photograph to tell Sokha’s story more than a hundred times, and she still can’t repeat it without getting upset. I can vouch for that.

It struck me that we could all use a “Popeye” moment in our lives, a moment when the injustice of the world prompts us not to indifference and not to despair, but a moment that empowers us to rise up and do something about it.

>>You can give hope for sexually exploited girls, providing assistance like medical care, nutritious food, non formal education, vocational training, compassionate counseling, and, where possible, reintegration into a loving family environment.

This week, a much-blighted country has a chance to end decades of war.

A woman cast her ballot in Juba, Southern Sudan. (Abraham Nhial/WV)

If you are a close follower of international news, or perhaps of film star George Clooney, you might have picked up there’s a bit of excitement surrounding an independence referendum going on in Sudan this week—one that is likely to see the creation of an entirely new nation.

George has done an admirable job of drawing the attention of the White House and the media to the plight of this forgotten country, which has had a distressing tendency to lurch from one calamity to the next.

Children in Sudan, 1998 (James Addis/WV)

The country holds a special interest for me because one of my earliest overseas assignments for World Vision was in southern Sudan. Goodness, that was a baptism of fire. Back in 1998, a combination of war with the north, factional fighting between various rebel groups, and bad weather led to massive population displacements and thousands of starving children. It was the first time I saw children dying of hunger. One of my responsibilities was to take photographs to document World Vision’s work. Alas, many of the pictures were deemed too horrific to publish.

There was a massive aid operation in response to the emergency, which faced enormous logistical difficulties. Southern Sudan is about the size of France and there are hardly any roads. At that time communication was accomplished via unreliable, crackly shortwave radio. Giant Hercules C130 aircraft would literally drop relief food from the sky into carefully demarcated landing zones in remote areas, because there were no suitable landing strips.

World Vision had multiple bases in the south from which it distributed the food aid and ran emergency feeding centers for children. It was noble work, but there was always the nagging suspicion that unless the political situation changed—in particular that there was an end to the decades-long civil war with the north—then the situation was fundamentally hopeless.

That’s why the referendum this week is important. It hopefully paves the way for a peaceful separation between the Arabic Muslim north and the largely black and Christian south. If it does so, it could mark the end of a conflict that has claimed 2 million lives.

A marching band plays at a rally for the referendum. (Michael Arunga/WV)

The Economist warns that it’s too early to be singing and dancing about this just yet. A resentful northern government might try to make life as difficult as possible for a new southern state, and the south suffers from long-standing problems of tribal division and corruption.

All the same, it’s hard not to be optimistic. Michael Arunga, World Vision’s current communicator in Sudan, now fulfilling a similar role to what I did back in 1998, reports thousands are turning up at polling stations in the south full of enthusiasm. One 75-year-old woman he spoke to, Mary Aban, perhaps best sums up their mood. “War destroyed this country. We should have been a modern country but are now suffering from poverty because of fighting that has had many of our people killed,” she said. “I have waited for this day for too long. I am not hungry, yet I have not taken any breakfast. It is very important that we all vote today.”

(Jon Warren / World Vision)

After the fun of flying 10+ hours in a middle seat in coach, where do our travelers like to land? And find out how they shake the effects of jet lag.

Favorite international airport:

Dean Owen, director of executive communications and occasional travel writer: Seoul, Korea—great food, great accommodations, and lots of space to walk around (and closed rooms for people who smoke!).

James Addis, magazine senior editor: Auckland International Airport, New Zealand. Almost certainly my mom and dad will be there to meet me when I get off the plane. My dad’s first question will be, “Did you get any duty-free gin?”

John Schenk, communications resources manager for World Vision International (and uber-crisis journalist): Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It’s big, has lots of light, and so much to look at while you wander around in a daze after 10 hours in a vacuum-sealed aircraft.

Ryan Smith, magazine associate editor: Am I allowed to say Seattle-Tacoma International airport, because that means I’m home? If not, I’ll go with Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia—for the name alone. (My least favorite airport is in Dakar, Senegal.)

Strategies to beat jet lag:

These number of destinations on this trip is typical for World Vision travel: Denver, Tampa, Atlanta, Amsterdam, and Budapest.

James: If possible, go for a long run before the flight. This makes it easier to doze off, and the body is less inclined to resent the long hours of inactivity. When you arrive, you will feel incredibly refreshed.

Dean: Prepare your body for the arrival time of your destination. For example, if arriving at noon, sleep on the plane until three hours before you arrive, wake up, and you are (or should be) ready for several hours of activity. Also, do lots of stretches and movement during the flight and drink lots of bottled (not airline-provided) water.

John: Ideally, swim lengths in a minimum 25-meter pool after the flight. But it takes a lot of nerve and discipline to jump in even at the shallow end for the first time after a long journey.

Ryan: When I arrive at a destination, I try to go for a walk as soon as possible, to stretch out after being cooped up on a plane. Then I try to be outside to watch the sun set. I think that intentionally watching the transition from light to dark helps your body adjust to the new time zone.

John Schenk on the job in Pakistan. (Dana Palade/WV)

You’re on an international assignment. What travel items are must-haves? What gadgets help you communicate? Our travelers share their faves.

Favorite travel accessory:

John Schenk, communications resources manager for World Vision International (and uber-crisis journalist): iPod with video. This isn’t merely an entire entertainment console—it’s like a team of therapists, and your hour isn’t merely 50 minutes. Great to shut out the world and listen, watch, or read.

Jane Sutton-Redner, magazine editor-in-chief: A journal. You think you’ll remember every moment of an international trip, but the human brain just doesn’t have the storage capacity. With a journal, you can write down the significant stuff as well as the quirky and the mundane—names of restaurants, how many bugs you found in your bed in the Amazon, what the market hawker said to you when you tried to escape his pitch. And later, it’s all gold.

Ryan Smith, magazine associate editor: For a plane, nothing beats a good book. More specifically, my favorite is the copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that I purchased the day it was released in Lima, Peru, just before my flight home.

Dean Owen, director of executive communications and occasional travel writer: A pouch secured by my belt that slips into my pants for safekeeping of passport, cash, credit cards, etc.

James Addis, magazine senior editor: My green card. No longer do I fear returning to the U.S. and facing a lengthy interview about my residency status with a suspicious official in a private room. Biggest fear while traveling? Losing my green card.

Favorite communications gadget:

John: iPhone 4. Given the immediacy and audience provided by social media, I’m eager to respond to an urgent international event and use nothing more than my new iPhone, a host of apps and a few accessories, plus a satellite modem to tell the story to the world. Antennae-gate aside, this technology is remarkable.

Ryan: Skype, for when email communication is just too slow.

James: Olympus Digital Voice Recorder. The perfect tool for recording interviews when interviewing in a 4-wheel-drive that’s negotiating non-existent roads in the middle of nowhere. Try doing it in shorthand.

Jane: I’m never without a good old-fashioned ballpoint. But even pens are getting smarter; there’s a new product on the market that records while you write and plays back recordings with a tap. Seems too good to be true, and I haven’t tested it yet, so this is not exactly a recommendation … and I think a backup pen is a good idea, regardless.

Tell us your favorites!

This week, our panel of well-traveled communicators offers recommendations for expanding your world view. First up, our favorites for the armchair traveler and global citizen: books and movies exploring international themes.

(Abby Metty/WV)

Favorite book with an international setting or theme:

John Schenk, communications resources manager for World Vision International (and uber-crisis journalist): All Quiet on the Western Front, written by a youthful veteran, Erich Maria Remarque, and set in the trenches of the First World War, that “war to end all wars” that claimed million lives. Told from the German point of view, it sold 2.5 million copies in 25 languages in the first 18 months after it was published in 1929 and was paid the ultimate compliment by being included in the books Hitler’s Nazi thugs burned after taking power in 1933. It turned the head of a high-school senior in New Jersey and set his feet on a road less-travelled that culminated in 24 years of humanitarian journalism. A life-changer, in other words. For a high-school paper and later as a personal study, I tracked the author’s career and witnessed through his words the tragic, dark worldview forged by his years in that war. Can’t help but think of him when I meet children who’ve seen and done things that would destroy a comfortable, well-balanced North American adult. In disasters, we use the term “rapid response,” which in no small part is about getting to children before the wounds to their hearts fester and scar over.

James Addis, magazine senior editor: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. A deeply flawed, frightened, but ultimately heroic priest flees an anti-clerical purge in Mexico. His humanity stands in sharp contrast to the machine-like inhumanity of a brutal regime. Hard to read without being deeply moved.

Jane Sutton-Redner, magazine editor-in-chief: A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power. This is not beach reading; you don’t want to be in it just before going to sleep. In fact, you sort of have to grit your teeth to get through much of it. But if you care about the recurring horror of genocide and want to understand the factors that contributed to genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and other places—including the U.S.’ failure to intervene—this is a must-read.

Dean Owen, director of executive communications and occasional travel writer: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. This timeless classic with anthropomorphized animals teaches readers all they will ever need to know about life.  The people animals Kenneth Grahame writes about are generous and frugal, humble and arrogant, selfish and selfless, and of course, moral and immoral.

Ryan Smith, magazine associate editor: The Chosen by Chaim Potok isn’t set in an international setting (it’s set in New York City), but it was the first book that opened my eyes to different communities and traditions that exist in our culture and how important it is to respect those traditions, even if I don’t fully understand them.

Favorite book about Africa:

Jane Sutton-Redner: Things Fall Apart. There are so many books about Africa from the perspective of white or Western authors. For the black African point of view, there’s no better place to start than the debut novel by acclaimed Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, portraying life in a tribal village just as colonialism starts to encroach. It’s great storytelling. Follow this up with the sequel, No Longer at Ease, following a tribal son’s perilous road to a professional career in the city.

Dean Owen: Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux. Mr. Theroux is my favorite travel writer and the story chronicling journey by land from Cairo to Capetown is a compelling read, regardless of his criticism of World Vision and other humanitarian agencies.  His chapter on the “hyena man” in Harar, Ethiopia, inspired my visit there in 2004.

John Schenk: A Time to Die by Wilbur Smith. I don’t read much about Africa, child soldiers, or human trafficking, because I either write or have written so much about these things and they are still among my top causes, about which I make videos, twitter, and share like mad on Facebook. To relax and decompress, I read pure fiction about these things where very filmic, pulp-fictionesque heroes kick the stuffing out of bad guys. The only things not exaggerated about such guilty pleasures are the portrayals of the villains. It’s difficult to overstress how truly evil such people are.

Favorite foreign or international-themed film:

Dean Owen: “The African Queen,” Like many of the best films—from “Gone With the Wind” to “Slumdog Millionaire”—this movie is an against-all-odds love story.  I have interviewed the last surviving actor, Theodore Bikel, and hope one day to visit the location in DRC where the film was shot to write an article combining the genres of travel and film.

Ryan Smith: “District 9” is a movie about aliens that end up living in a refugee camp in South Africa. The film explores some of the issues regarding life in a refugee camp and what kinds of “human rights” are offered to refugees, while still being about, well, aliens.

James Addis: Two recommendations: “Blood Diamond,” about Sierra Leone—a painful account of how a precious mineral, instead of generating wealth, unleashes an orgy of bloodshed. The film also gives a chilling insight into how child soldiers are recruited into rebel armies and turned into ruthless killers. Secondly, “Came a Hot Friday,” a New Zealand film that gets funnier and funnier the longer it goes on. A couple of small-time swindlers get caught up with darker criminal forces that are way out of their league. Also features the legendary Maori comedian Billy T. James as a tubby Mexican bandit, the Tainui Kid. The Kid hasn’t a clue what is going on but, armed with a couple of child’s cap guns, he manages to outwit them all.

John Schenk: “Osama” by Siddiq Barmak, about a young girl in Afghanistan under the Taliban who disguises herself as a boy in order to support her family. I love it for the truth it portrays so simply and powerfully and for the drive and focus of the underdogs who made it for $46,000, using only amateur actors recruited from the streets. Sadly, an art-house sensation in North America but never shown in suburban cineplexes. I recently picked up a copy for $1 at a second-hand shop.

Jane Sutton-Redner: “City of God,” a visually stunning movie set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro that follows a young boy’s struggle to rise out of street thuggery by becoming the next Jon Warren—I mean, a professional photographer. Oh, and my son is named after the main character.

Tell us your favorites!

World Vision plans to speed the decline of HIV infections.

A HIV blood test showing a negative result. (John Warren/WV)

Although it was World AIDS Day last week, as far as I could tell the subject of AIDS hardly registered a blip in the mainstream media. I guess I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it’s hard to sustain a continuous high level of interest in even the world’s most pressing concerns. On the other hand, this is no time for complacency. Today, there are 33 million people infected with HIV—the highest number ever. More than 2 million of those infected are children under the age of 15.

Yet there is good news, too. The latest report from UNAIDS shows the rate of new infections is falling—down from 3.1 million a decade ago to 2.6 million in 2009. Moreover, infection rates are falling fastest in some of the most heavily-infected countries, notably those in sub-Saharan Africa and South and South-East Asia. If you don’t feel up to reading the full report, there is a handy summary in The Economist in a story headlined “HIV’s Slow Retreat.”

Proper care of pregnant moms can prevent the transmission of HIV to their offspring. (Jon Warren/WV)

There are a few reasons for the decline. There has been a big reduction in mother-to-child transmission, and the millions now benefiting from anti-retroviral drugs are not only living longer but are less likely to pass the disease on to others. Another reason is behavioral change. People are losing their virginity later, being less promiscuous, and using condoms more. This tends to vindicate the ABC education strategy (abstain before marriage, be faithful in marriage, but in certain circumstances use a condom), which was pioneered in Uganda and much utilized by World Vision. It appears that encouraging abstinence and faithfulness does in fact work.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations are not resting on their laurels. On World AIDS Day, World Vision took the opportunity to launch a new strategy on HIV and AIDS, replacing the former strategy known as the Hope Initiative. The new strategy will place even more emphasis on combating mother-to-child transmission, which generally occurs during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. To do this, World Vision will concentrate more resources on countries with high numbers of HIV-positive pregnant mothers. Although the means of countering mother-to-child transmission are well known, often relatively cheap, and extremely effective, it’s estimated that less than half HIV-positive pregnant moms have access to the treatment and advice they need. Naturally, this means World Vision has plenty of work to do. But it also means the chances of success are high.

If mother-to-child transmission can be virtually eliminated—and some experts believe this might be achieved by 2015—then it will impact almost 400,000 children a year. That would mean HIV’s slow retreat would get a whole lot speedier.

An Indonesian child's drawing shows Mount Merapi erupting. (Bartolomeus Marsudiharjo/WV)

If we’d had unlimited space in the Winter magazine, we would have focused on how art helps children in emergencies such as natural disasters or conflict. Art is a prominent feature in World Vision’s Child-Friendly Spaces, which are set up in displacement camps as a safe zone for children to play and recover from their distress.

I just came across the drawing above in our photo library. In Indonesia, Mount Merapi’s recent eruption is understandably on the minds of the kids in an evacuation center. Drawing it helps them makes sense of what’s happening to them.

Banana-leaf art in Haiti. (Lisa Salyer/WV)

In Haiti, creative activities in Child-Friendly Spaces fill in what otherwise would be long, empty days for children still living in tent encampments, 10 months after the devastating earthquake. Kids have crafted artwork out of banana leaves, embroidery, and macramé. I’m told that the recent cholera emergency has caused some Child-Friendly Spaces to temporarily close, and my heart sinks for those children, whose creativity needs fueling now more than ever.

Many recent disasters are documented in our photo library with photos of children hunched over paper, clutching crayons and colored pens, as well as images of the resulting drawings—touching childish renditions of the tsunamis or floods they have endured. I thank God that they survived, but as a mother, it pains me to think of what they witnessed and what they face in their immediate future.

Still, God built our children to be resilient, and that comes through in the art of young people tested by crisis. I am cheered by this video of Lebanese children performing a song they wrote themselves about peace (thanks to my colleague, Patricia Mouamar, for sending it).

Amazing, isn’t it? Something as simple as a song or a drawing can be transformative. Art allows children to become agents of hope.

A rash of massive flooding around the world should prompt some serious reflection.

Flooding in central Thailand also threatens Bangkok. (World Vision Staff)

One of the routine duties I perform at World Vision magazine is to write the “World Watch” section—a quarterly snapshot of significant events around the world. In compiling the latest news, I’ve been struck by how much flooding has been going on recently. Let’s see—currently Indonesia is dealing with a tsunami (and a volcano eruption). In September and October we have had serious flooding in Laos, India, North Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Mexico. And these are just the floods World Vision is responding to. Go back to August, and World Vision brought emergency aid after floods in Romania, Central America, and Pakistan. As you are probably aware, the Pakistan floods alone have adversely affected 10 million people.

I’m running out of headlines to describe these tragedies. I’ve already used “Monsoon Misery,” “Water Torture,” and “Typhoon Trial.” It will not be long before I start repeating myself, if I have not done so already.

The spate of flooding prompted me to do some googling around to see if there was some kind of scientific explanation for this deluge of flood stories. Eventually, I found something. Sadly, the news is not good. The headline on the National Geographic website runs, “Expect More Floods as Global Water Cycle Speeds Up.” The article is written by National Geographic’s freshwater fellow Sandra Postel, and it’s an illuminating, if worrying, read.

The reason for the floods, as I suspected, has to do with global warming. I appreciate this phrase irritates some people, but please bear with me. Until I read Sandra’s piece, I had not quite figured out the connection between warming and flooding. Sandra explains that as the atmosphere warms from the addition of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, it can hold more moisture. As a result, more water evaporates from the oceans, leading to thicker clouds that dump more rainfall over the land.

Malnutrition is one of the many problems caused by flooding in Pakistan. (Muhammad Ali/WV)

It’s not just your run-of-the-mill precipitation, either. Going by the reports, err, flooding into this office, we are talking about torrential storms that go on for days and days, and the consequence, as we have seen, are thousands of hectares of farmland submerged, mass outbreaks of water-borne disease, and millions rendered homeless.

Scientists have long predicted that climate change would cause this phenomenon, but it was only observed and confirmed this month with the publication of an analysis of satellite data in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A team at the University of California in Irvine used satellite records of sea level rise, precipitation, and evaporation to compile a 13-year record of the water cycle—the first of its kind. The bad news is that we are likely to see more major flooding in the foreseeable future.

All this reminds me, as my boss Rich Stearns is fond of saying, that aid work is rocket science. It’s complex and must take into account many factors. So in addition to doing what we can to alleviate the suffering of flood survivors in, say, Pakistan, we also need to consider what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

David Beckmann: Pastor, economist, and campaigner against poverty. (Bread for the World)

It’s always nice to see someone who has dedicated his life to the welfare of the poor getting honored for his work. David Beckmann, pastor, former World Bank economist, and president of Bread for the World, received the World Food Prize today. He shares the honor with Jo Luck, president of Heifer International.

Over the last 10 years, the policies that David has fought for are credited with helping triple the amount of money the U.S. Congress commits to development assistance, which in turn has helped millions escape hunger. That prompted me to read an advance copy of David’s new book, Exodus from Hunger, to learn a bit more about the man and his mission.

Interesting read. David’s main point is that whatever else we may do, it is critical to advocate for political changes if we are to successfully eliminate hunger and poverty. The book’s title harks back to the biblical exodus whereby the children of Israel escaped slavery in Egypt. “God did not send Moses to Pharaoh’s court to take up a collection of canned goods and blankets,” David writes. “God sent Moses to Pharaoh with a political challenge: to let Hebrew slaves go free.”

The book will not please everyone. Anyone skeptical of the effectiveness of government intervention will likely find much to bristle at. But it’s worth hearing David out. He concedes that economic growth has often been the principal means by which poverty has been countered, but he argues that government policies have also played a critical role. He cites Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies and Nixon’s expansion of national nutrition programs as examples.

In the global arena, he points to the Millennium Development Goals, whereby world leaders set objectives for reducing extreme poverty and its associated problems. Although progress on the goals has been erratic, there have been huge gains, such as a dramatic decline in the proportion of the world’s children who are underweight. This convinces David that more sustained government action can reap even richer rewards. He has complimentary things to say about recent U.S. presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—but he laments the fact that none of them have made poverty reduction a top priority.

Despite his emphasis on political activism, David does not neglect other ways to make poverty history. Toward the end of the book, he offers five practical steps we can all take. Here’s a quick paraphrase:

1. Ground yourself in God: We’re not going to change the world until we get our prayers right. Whenever you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” include hungry people in your petition.

2. Get to know the poor: Our efforts for social change will be better motivated and informed if they are grounded in experience with particular individuals and communities.

3. Shape your life to your values: Live economically in order to free up time and money to help people in need.

4. Make an impact in your workplace: Could your company extend services to struggling families or open a facility in a low-income neighborhood?

5. Learn more: Keep learning about the problems poor people confront and how they might be solved. Pay attention to the news.

With respect to the fifth point, you can preorder a copy Exodus from Hunger, due out on Oct. 20.

(Jon Warren/WV)

Next month, the L&M Arts gallery in New York will be showcasing the work of British artist Damien Hirst. Those familiar with the contemporary art world will know that Hirst is famous for works featuring medicine cabinets and dead animals preserved in formaldehyde. Though perhaps he is even more famous for the whopping prices his art attracts.

As the Economist reveals, Italian designer Miuccia Prada shelled out nearly $10 million for a trio of Hirst animals: “The Black Sheep with the Golden Horn,” “False Idol” (a calf), and “The Dream” (a foal made to look like a unicorn). An unidentified collector was prepared to pay $16 million for “The Golden Calf” (a bull featuring 18-carat gold hooves); and Sheikha al-Mayassa, daughter of the Emir of Qatar, coughed up $15 million for “Lullaby Spring” (a steel medicine cabinet featuring individually painted pills).

Now there are some people who make the fact that there are a lot of desperately poor people in the world a reason for denying themselves every pleasure and making anybody who does splash out occasionally feel guilty. I don’t like this kind of thinking myself. It’s quite common for me to take my family out to a modest restaurant and spend more on a single meal than many families in the developing world earn in months. Even so, $15 million for a medicine cabinet—I’d have to say that’s a bit on the extravagant side.

Mary at the new well in her village. (Collins Kaumba/WV)

Think what you could do with that sort of money. For example, roughly 4,000 children die every day from diarrhea because they lack access to clean water and sanitation. But if you go to World Vision’s Gift Catalog you will discover that you can fund the drilling of a deep well for a mere $13,700. That means the emir’s daughter could have used the money she spent on “Lullaby Spring” to provide more than 1,000 wells—perhaps saving the lives of tens of thousands of children. Maybe one like 12-year-old Mary Mweene who no longer has to get up at 5 a.m. to lug water from a polluted stream that made her sick. Since a well was drilled in her village in Zambia, she is healthier, happier, and back in school.

I don’t resent for one moment what wealthy art collectors decide to do with their money. They are entitled to do what they like with it. However, I do wonder if they might be getting a bad bargain. Imagine that you had provided the money for the well in Mary’s village, and the picture of her smiling face hung proudly on your living room wall. Wouldn’t that give you more enjoyment than an exorbitantly priced dead calf with gold hooves or a steel medicine cabinet with hand-painted pills?