Weekly Photo Challenge: Thankful

There are many things that I am thankful for: family, friends, freedom, health, education, technology, travel, having a job to name a few.

At the moment I’m thankful about having choices.

Choices at Thanksgiving Dinner

On Friday evening I went to my school’s annual prize-giving event. The guest speaker was a young woman who is an ex-pupil of the school and has made astounding achievements in the 6 or 7 years since she left school, including becoming the youngest female surgeon qualified in the UK.

But it wasn’t her achievements that she spoke about. The talk was about her time spent as a student doctor working in HIV slums in Kenya.  She told us of some women she had met and treated in the slums, who didn’t have any options about how to spend their lives. They didn’t have a choice to make about what career they may take or some changes in their lives that other people had made decisions about.

Although her talk was supposed to inspire the students, it also inspired me as an adult and I am thankful that I have choices.

As seen on Facebook

Some people live in desperate situations and really don’t have many choices. Sometimes the situation is so dire that to survive they must flee. But to where? Asylum seekers and refugees fleeing to Australia are almost always genuine according to Amnesty International. Having done nothing wrong but to abandon everything they know in order to escape they are placed in mandatory detention, sometimes indefinitely, without a choice.

I believe children don’t belong behind bars.

I believe innocent people shouldn’t be locked up for years.

I want asylum seekers in Australia to be treated fairly and with compassion.

You don’t need to be Australian, or even in Australia, to add your support to the campaign for fair and compassionate treatment of refugees by clicking on the image above.

Rejoice in your ability to choose and be thankful.

See what other bloggers are thankful for via the Daily Post.