Spring Break
Sipple lecture offers perspective of world poverty
Jake Leister
Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: News & Feature
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This was the second year for the event and its name is taken from the founder of the school of nursing at Moravian.
Speaking this year was Dr. Gerard Rudy. He operates a small medical center in the area of La Mosquitia, Honduras, which has been operating for more than 70 years. Working for both the Moravian Church in Honduras and for the reformed Church of America, Rudy is able to offer health care services to individuals who would otherwise be unable to get treatment.
Rudy's lecture was about the living conditions in Honduras and the dedication that individuals are making to developed nations because of the inadequacies and low living standards there.
Dr. Rudy works in the most impoverished part of Honduras. The poverty, as he said, is limiting the production capability for an easier and more fulfilling life. In the developing world, AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria kill about 6 million people each year.
A large death rate is one aspect of this problem and one that he stressed threatens our humanity when we do nothing about it. Compounding the AIDS problem is the fact that one-third of all individuals in the developing world do not seek treatment, which is an additional humanity crisis.
The core message from this speech is the developing world needs our help. To a room of nurses and guests, he suggested that we find the suffering that bothers us most and assist with all possible means.
The root theme of this lecture was stewardship. More specially, how the individual is going to influence the lives of others in the most meaningful and effective manner.
Rudy's stories were a personal reflection of Honduras locals who needed help they would have been unable to receive. His passion for the medical field, and faith as part of the Moravian Church, allow them to make a lasting impact on this area of the world. The codependency between Rudy and the Honduras locals creates a rewarding experience and one that must be copied for the sake of humanity.
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