Neighbor Tuesday: A table and a painting at the UN
Can I just start this by saying a huge ‘Thank you!’ to last week? You all went “with” me to the United Nations General Assembly and sharing that experience with lots of you was such a joy. You can read about my initial reflections here. I wanted to dedicate this post to a bit more of my reflections on the week. I’m now home, fed, unpacked, hugged by my family, and caught-up-not-really-on-sleep. I’ve also had time to be quiet (y’all, NYC is so loud – but also knows how to party!), so that quiet means my brain could sift through the busy to get to the stillness of the week, the one-thing of the week. For me, what came out as the one-thing for the week was a table.
Last Thursday was the big day at the UN for me. The organizations I was representing, the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery and the Duke Center for Global Surgery and Health Equity, were invited to the high-level meeting on universal health coverage at the UN on that day. The day started with a fantastic meeting of doctors, NGOs, advocates, etc on congenital anomalies, particularly the disproportionate burden in low-income countries. (Also, can we pay attention to that wood wall in the picture?!)
Then the big meeting started. All of us in the civil society space (NGOs, organizations, academics, etc) were in the back and we all knew that only a select group would be able to make their statement on universal health coverage from the floor. But, we were there nonetheless. I sat by a student representing a global migration group, a woman from Oxfam, a woman working for global reproductive rights, an LGBTQ advocate, and many others I didn’t get to meet.
As a side note, these selections on who gets to speak always seem very random too. Here’s what I observed though. It seemed like we were all a fun rag-tag group of like-minded individuals just trying to get a seat at the table where typically governments and parliamentarians reside. Over the next few hours, several people around me that I had already met (because I’m too friendly) made statements, and I gave them a hearty ‘well done’ and thumbs up when they returned to their seats. And, then the majority of us were not selected to make statements. Here’s the deal: that’s not equity and that’s not the table that means so much to me. Let me tell you about that one.
In 2019, I went to the UN for the first time advocating for the inclusion of children’s surgical care in universal health coverage packages. (The picture on the left is me and my favorite collabo-friend in the main assembly hall at the UN, Dr. Henry Rice. The book is in part dedicated to him! The picture on the right is me fangirling to meet Dr. Tedros, head of the WHO. ha!)
The final day of that trip, I rounded the corner on the 3rd floor and was met with the Norman Rockwell painting of the Golden Rule. I’ve always loved that painting and included a chapter about why in my upcoming book because it and this 2019 trip mean so much to me. So, when I saw it in the mosaic form and over 10 feet high at the UN, it kind of took my breath away. There at the UN is what I think equity looks like. But, it wasn’t the massive table for the government officials. It was in the painting of simple people from all over the world of many countries and ages and cultures and backgrounds and beliefs.
So, this time at the UN (last week) I went to that painting again early in the day to just look at it for a while. And, I brought my upcoming book along with me to get a picture. And, to simply say ‘thank you’ for the life I get to live – in all aspects of professional ways to my family. You’ll hear more of that painting in the book and it was one of my favorite chapters to write.
On this Neighbor Tuesday, I wanted to leave you with a picture of what I think equity looks like. If you believe in Heaven, I also think this is what that looks like. Not tables of power with only a few seats or scarcity. But, a table of enough, more than enough. A table of colors and culture and abundance and countries and stories like in the Norman Rockwell painting. We get to be a part of that here on earth too as Neighbors if we lean into it. And, it starts with being a neighbor wherever we are – rocking a sweet baby at 2am who won’t sleep or at the UN or in a classroom or hugging your parents.
I left the UN last week with a heart full and way too many pictures of that painting and my book on neighboring and equity that I’m so proud of. But, I also left with another reminder that this world is full of great people doing loud and quiet things to create a new table too.
-Emily
PS: I would be thrilled if you pre-order my book, The Science of the Good Samaritan. You can get it here or anywhere books are sold.