Are We On The Same Planet?

Part of my normal routine throughout the week is listening to NPR or the BBC on my way in to work in the morning. There was a story I heard on the BBC today that left me thinking, is this really happening on the same planet that I live on? It was a story about the plight of as many as 300 Zimbabwean women working in the neighboring city of Livingston in Zambia as prostitutes. (You can check out the article from the BBC here) These are women who at one time were bankers, business owners, or policewomen who have been left with no choice but to sell themselves in order to feed their families; not just their children but grandparents, nieces and nephews that live with them because their parents have died.

I've been reminded how easy it is for me to forget that these sorts of things are happening in our world today as I drive my comfortable Volkswagen Passat anywhere I want to go, able to afford paying $3.45/gallon for gas. I find myself feeling disgusted, frustrated, saddened, angry, dumbfounded that these kinds of things are happening in this day and age. How can we say that humankind has achieved so much and sit by while things like this happen all around the world? I have to believe there is something I can do to make a difference, even if it is simply making people aware or through prayer because if I can't, then what's the point of this?