The other day, reading updates about what was happening in Gaza with lack of aid and malnutrition, my emotions were getting out of control. When we feel like this as changemakers, we have to remember we are acting in Phase Two of Rising Up, a stage marked by intense feelings that need to be processed, and often come out a little in Phase Three, small actions. For me, sharing this frustration with others by writing content, especially in lament form was helpful. Especially because I can’t do very much besides try to get people to care and express the frustration about suffering that many of us have little power to do much about. May this Lament for Hungry Babies also help you, as a prayer, conduit for opening your eyes, inspiration to act, or just a way to also process your grief.

Lament For Hungry Babies

I once had a 4lb baby who did not eat

We all were aware he would have been

Woefully lost to us, if not for the grace of a

Minuscule tube that flowed up his bitty nose

& NICU & Nurses & Doctors & Insurance &

Also I think,

God

The UN warns, at least fourteen thousand!

Hungry little ones suffer severe malnutrition

80+ days of an “AID B |L |O |C |K |A |D |E |”

Simply a PC term for an old fashioned siege

No way To sow To grow To feed To eat

I scream, Oh

God!!

When my infant son was only one month old

A formula shortage slammed into our economy

Per usual, headlines went largely unnoticed

Low supply + high demand—we the mothers

Watched and Worried and Paid and Begged

I prayed,

God?

If only we didn’t politicize the needs of children

Compassion flows without defining deserving

I know this, for my own son, by charity, was 

Gratefully fed—indebted to strangers’ frozen

Breastmilk.Drs.Samples.Expired.Canisters.

I thank you,

God

I used to march against the evils of abortion

It was the worst, until I saw our own hypocrisy

If babies indiscriminately are so very important

Shouldn’t we use our power to protect them all?

In public? In posts? In prayer? ln politics?

I’m angry,

God!

A pinned-in corner of the Middle East:

14,100 children per 500,000 women

In the United States (27,000x larger):

7,500 abortions per 500,000 women

Humans + Ratios = Life MATTERS²

I shout out,

God!?

My team of specialist realistically advised

Still at 20 weeks to terminate my growing fetus

My son + lupus = sucking out my life’s essence

Grasping at my wispy faith-string for wild miracles 

I challenged, I fought, I pushed against the clock

I wrestled with

God

I weep with the mothers as we bury our pain

Too busy surviving, we can’t process suffering

We crumble under breakthrough’s uncertainty

For we see no solution to make it further through

Is there hope? Is there faith? Is there more?

We’re begging,

God!

What words can lament for hungry babies?

And for those confined within bordered cages?

From over here my solidarity feels inert & remote

My limits are an ocean—but passion keeps rising 

Oh, for starving Gaza, Venezuela, Yemen & Sahel

I cry out to

God!

Food Insecurity

When you’ve had a baby like mine, it feels impossible to ignore the groans of other hungry children. I wrote this last week, but the story in Gaza continues to unfold. They’re now allowing limited aid, but it’s discriminatory and it isn’t being distributed where the people are. With little access to medical care, too, children truly are suffering. 

And it isn’t just in Gaza, though this makes me sick. ⅕ children in San Diego alone are food insecure. I mention Venezuela, Yemen and Sahel, too, as famine-like conditions have or are developing in these areas. There is also food crisis in Ethiopia, South Sudan, possibly Ukraine and Afghanistan, and Central America–generally the same places where there are a lot of migrants and refugees.

What can you do? 

  • Locally: donate frozen breast milk, formula, garden produce, and shelf stables. Consider starting a weekend food backpack program. Make sure the women (especially young women) around you know that you’ll support them in a crisis pregnancy and learn of local resource centers.
  • United States/Globally: Tell your representatives you support bills that continue to provide food assistance and your concern for children. (Follow a the orgs that make this super easy) Also, advocate for birth control, prenatal care, counseling for women in crisis, and services like WIC, child-care, etc…
  • Gaza: Stay aware of the headlines, listen to both your jewish and palestinian friends, talk about it publicly, encourage people to contact their reps for the U.S. to support ceasefires and allow humanitarian aid. When aid becomes more freely allowed again, donate to localized on the ground organizations.

*Yes, I am aware that the 14K babies number in 48 hours was hyperbole, but 14,100 children five and under is still a genuine estimate if this crisis continues through the year.