There Are Many People Even Below You! Think Of That And Seek Peace / Be Relieved

Last night was horrible. I started feeling some kind of discomfort in my abdomen as soon as I reached home from the office. The pain slowly increased, and it felt extremely uncomfortable to sit or sleep during the evening.

I thought it was PMS, as I was awaiting my periods anytime soon.
My mom gave me her usual herbs, as she believes herbs are the best to relieve period pains. Mint, garlic, fenugreek and what not. But nothing helped this time

As my pain got aggravated, I retorted to my pain-killers, which I don't use often fearing acidity and other side effects.
Within minutes after taking my pain-killers, I vomited. I couldn't even walk to the wash room, but vomited on the floor of our bedroom. The vomit continued for sometimes till mid night.

I am not someone who easily react to any pains. I am very much used to live with pain, and go about doing everything in life as if I am numb from it.
Headaches, arthritis pain, endometriosis pain and nothing can put me down. My family knows my tolerance level.

But yesterday, I started crying in pain and felt like I was about to go unconscious. I tried my level best to keep the consciousness up, because I didn't want to leave my family in darkness, if in case they decides to call for the emergency. We are new in this country and no one except me knows all the details of insurance, etc..etc..

I prayed to God, and sought his presence at times of my trouble and it helped miraculously. By 2am I felt ok and out of pain. In fact, the pain started to go down after I vomited around mid-night.

I slept then, but couldn't catch my usual sleeps. It was nightmares throughout that night, and I woke up in between to use the wash rooms and each time worried of the pain coming back.
At around 4 am, I could sleep properly.

At 6am, when the alarm rang I got pissed off. I didn't want to wake up or go to office although I was completely out of pain then. I felt tired, and restless. Also, felt so weak to get up or access to the wash room. The usual period discomfort killed me further.
But the month end dead-lines, and those few important meetings to catch up scared me so much; hence I got up and came to the office.

In fact, I cried literally for having to go to work even though my body demanded rest. I hated this life and my responsibilities. All I wanted was some sleeps, but what is the use of having financial independence and wealth if you can't enjoy your basic needs like rest & sleep. I hated the very thought of going to work this time.

While I got down from the car, I saw a panic situation before my office gate.
Usually, there will be hundreds of asylum seekers waiting in the front area for registration & documentation, but they will be waiting in an organized line. But this group of some 25 individuals, probably from South Sudan tried to break the line, and demanded urgent assistance; hence the panic.
Lots of Police and security personnel were there.

A few minutes after I reached my office room. There, I saw an e-mail from the registration unit, seeking support from my unit to assist this particular family of 25 individuals, of these many are children. They said it is impossible to register this lot and provide necessary documentation within a day, given the pending cases waiting outside, who already have the appointment.
But this family seems so vulnerable, as they are homeless, no food, no winter cloths and it is heart-breaking to see the kids wander around in this cold weather without proper clothes.

It is impossible to provide humanitarian assistance through the office for the asylum seekers who haven't been registered and provided with valid documentation to live in this country. But humanitarian crisis like this can't wait till then.

So, I gathered my team and we were able to find some temporary solutions through our networks and individual financial contributions to transport this family to their South Sudanese community, that is living in this country and provide basic assistance till their case is prioritized for registration. Following that, housing, food and other cash/winterization assistance will be officially given to them.

I felt like my head was exploding while discussing about this case. It is beyond our imagination to be a refugee, and start your life from the scratch with kids and elders in a new country where you don't know the language. Poor them.

After organizing the necessary assistance, I returned back to my office room. The room felt heaven with warm temperature mixed in lavender room spray. My office assistant brought my favorite mint tea, which soothed my period pain.

We complain the moment we face problems in life. We are very quick to give up on life. But how lucky we are compared to the most underprivileged people who still strive hard to survive and are resilient till the last moment?.
Is our problem even worth comparing their struggle?

This time, I got reminded of an old Tamil song. Unakum Keezhe ullavar kodi! Ninaithu paarthu nimadhi naadu!
Roughly translated as "There are many people even below you! Think of that and seek peace / be relieved"