At the age of eighteen you are seen by the law as an adult, you can vote, you can buy a lottery ticket, and if you commit a crime you are now tried and sentenced as an adult. But are you really an adult? Do others perceive you as an adult? There is some unseen line that we cross on our eighteenth birthday the line between childhood and adulthood. It is like crossing the border from Florida to Georgia, one minute you’re in Florida and the next you’re in Georgia. It almost seems like you are in the same state, like you never left Florida in the first place. The only way to know is the sign saying “Welcome to Georgia.” What most people miss however is the sign directly after the welcome sign displaying the Georgia law stating that talking on the phone while driving is illegal, . even though it is legal in Florida. A new state, a new set of rules. Much like the new set of rules you get when you turn eighteen. When you turn eighteen, you get a birthday card as your welcome to adulthood and a new book of rules to follow.
However it is not the distinction between a
child and an adult that interests me. It is the difference between eighteen
year olds around the world. There are small differences like the difference
between me and my cousins in the UK when they turned eighteen. Living in England, turning
eighteen meant my cousins could go down the street to a pub and legally order a
beer. A rite of passage I will have to wait three more years to partake in. For
them their eighteenth birthday also signified that they could now drive a car,
something i have been doing since i was sixteen. These differences seem small
and insignificant compared to the differences I here in Africa.
I first noticed it a month ago when a new
patient walked in with her one month old baby. She looked young but many Kenyans do. The baby was sick, just a small cough that seemed to be going
around the neighborhood. The nurse prescribed medicine for the cough and
paracetamol for the pain and small fever.
She paid and left and I did not think twice about her. Two weeks later
she came back her baby was feeling better but she was experiencing some pain
while breastfeeding. That was when I looked down at her chart and read that she
was only eighteen. As the nurse examined her I sat there holding her now six
week old daughter. The pain was caused by a small abscess, nothing serious it
would burst by itself in a few days and the pain would go away. The nurse
prescribed more pain killers and once again the patient paid and left. This time
however I could not stop thinking about her.
The expectation of eighteen year olds today in the developed world is that they graduate high school and go off to college. At least that is the American
expectation. But what about other countries expectation. Are eighteen year olds
in China expected to do something different? What about in Russia? Brazil?
India? In Kenya is it expected for our patient to start a family of her own and
have children when i still feel like a child in my family?
I wake up at 8 am to go to class. Our patient
wakes up four times throughout the night to feed her crying baby. I grab a bowl
of cereal for breakfast. She milks the cow and makes porridge for her family
while she still has not eaten. I spend a few hours in class. She spends her
whole day cleaning the house and working in the farm. I throw my clothes into
the washing machine and press start. She hand washes not only her clothes but
her families clothes as well. I spend my extra time hanging out with friends
and watching Netflix. She has no extra time.
There is no difference in age but thousands
of differences in life. Eighteen!!!
Love always,Niamh
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